The journal, printed, as in MS.1570, but covering the period from 20 November 1825 to 13 April 1831, and other material collected by John Gibson Lockhart for the ‘Life’, all printed on one side of the page, with manuscript corrections of the text, chiefly typographical.

The material other than the journal consists of Mrs John Davy's Malta journal, 1831 (folio 437); letters of Sir Walter Scott to Mrs Scott of Harden, 1832 (folio 444 verso), and others, 1828-1830 (folio 448 verso); and J L Adolphus's account of Scott and Abbotsford (folio 461). These are printed by Lockhart with alterations and omissions. A letter to one Thomson about Daniel Terry's affairs, 1828 (folio 449), does not appear to have been published.