The contents includes:

Letter, undated, of Mary of Modena, written from St Germain, to the Mother Superior of the Convent of the Visitation at Chaillot (folio 1);

Letters, 1699-1788, undated, of the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Earls of Selkirk (folio 3);

Correspondence, 1841-1855, of and regarding Captain Archibald Macra Chisholm of Glassburn, and letters, 1898-1912, of his wife (folios 14-68, passim);

Letter, 1859, signed by Queen Victoria, congratulating the King of the Belgians on the birth of a grandson (folio 24);

Letters written by Stirtons in various parts of the world and others regarding the family of Stirton, 1882-1939, with a pedigree of the Stirtons of the Stormont by Dr Stirton, undated (folios 26-145, passim);

Notes by Dr Stirton on his collection of books and manuscripts, many of which he presented or bequeathed to the National Library of Scotland, undated (folio 149).