Poet and clergyman George Crabbe (1754-1832) had already had success with his poetry when John Murray became his publisher in in 1818. Murray paid Crabbe the sum of £3000 for all of his copyrights and the rights to his new work, 'Tales of the Hall', which was published in 1819.

The papers in this series include correspondence, largely of Crabbe to John Murray. Crabbe writes of his own works, the publishing process and other contemporary poets. There are also a number of personal notebooks compiled by Crabbe. These notebooks contain poetry, sermons and observations of the natural world. Also included are a number of manuscripts of sermons, which were written and delivered by George Crabbe over a period of over 45 years. The papers also contain a manuscript copy by Crabbe of some lines from 'Paradise Lost' by John Milton, and some miscellaneous material relating to Crabbe.