The contents are as follows.

(i) Manuscript of part of a review of ‘The man of Ton: a satire’ by Sir John Dean Paul, published in “Blackwood's Magazine”, June 1828. (Folio 1.)

(ii) Manuscript of the conclusion of an article, "On Hogg's memoirs", published in “Blackwood's Magazine”, August 1821. Also included are the manuscripts of an apparently unpublished article, circa 1814, and fragments of an article, circa 1821, both concerning James Hogg. (Folio 5.)

(iii) Manuscript (folio 7) and corrected proofs (folio 22) of parts of 'Dies Borealis, No. 1', published in “Blackwood's Magazine”, June 1849.

(iv) Corrected proofs of a poem, 'Stanzas dedicatory to Francis Jeffrey, Esquire, Advocate', published as frontispiece to “Blackwood's Magazine”, volume x, 1821 (folio 34).

(v) Manuscripts of four apparently unpublished articles. The first (folio 35) criticizes articles on the abolition of the Corn Laws by John Ramsay McCulloch in the 'Edinburgh Review', October 1824 and September 1826. The second (folio 41), circa 1829, is a Timothy Tickler letter about Catholic Emancipation. The third (folio 71), circa 1841, is about drama. The fourth (folio 108), "Collier's new edition of Shakespeare", discusses "Reasons for a new edition of Shakespeare's works" by J Payne Collier, the title page of which is attached to the manuscript.

(vi) A list, in John Wilson's hand, of his contributions to “Blackwood's Magazine”, 1826-1852 (folio 145).