Stephenson's diary covers his visit to Scotland from 23-30 August 1890. The writer gives his impressions of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and of places in the Forth and Clyde valleys and in the Central Highlands which he visited, such as Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Dunfermline, Greenock, Rothesay, Perth, Dunkeld, and Pitlochry. The main significance of the journal is in his description of his visit to the Edinburgh International Exhibition. He is interested in the engineering sections of the exhibition, the Railway Court and Edison's room, and particularly in printing machinery; he describes Lagerman's type composing and justifying machines in considerable detail. The text is illustrated by a photograph of the tourists, and by numerous cut-out illustrations of the places visited and of items of machinery, including the Lagerman Typotheter.

William Anthony Stephenson, 1866-1955, was born at Croxley Green in Hertfordshire where his father Anthony, an engineer, was manager of the Dickinsons paper mills. By 1891 the family were living in Clapham and Anthony had become a locomotive engine fitter.