The papers concern: Robert Liston's career as tutor to the sons of Sir Gilbert Elliot; the period from 1771 to 1773 which he spent in applying, unsuccessfully, for various posts; his assisting Gilbert Stuart in editing 'The London Magazine'; and the beginning of his diplomatic career, as secretary to Hugh Elliot in Munich and as Chargé d'Affaires to the Imperial Diet in Ratisbon, 1774-1776.