The collection consists of 50 original illustrations created by Edward Lear (1812-1888) executed primarily in watercolour and pencil. These works are part of Lear's Fifty Original Drawings of Birds and a Few Indistinct Pencil Sketches, published between 1835 and 1836. The illustrations and sketches feature depictions of a variety of bird species, including raptors, parrots, cranes, and waterfowl.

Among the species illustrated are the White-tailed Eagle, Grey Parrot, Whooper Swan, Andean Condor, Peregrine Falcon, and King Vulture. The illustrations are often annotated with descriptive details about the colours and features of the birds. Some also include pencil sketches and test patches of color.

Some of the illustrations include unidentified species, including a raptor with prey, an owl, and various parrots. Several of the illustrations are signed and dated by the artist, with the majority titled in pencil at the bottom of each sheet.

The fonds consists of a scrapbook containing photos, ephemera, and clippings related to the McGill graduates athletic club, Winter Carnival, and copies of the McGill News, approximately 1947. In addition, there is a photograph of Convocation (May 22, 1946), a cardigan sweater and a MOC patch.

The collection consists of Edith Smellie's diary, a photograph, and notebook "Visiting List." The first section of her diary recounts a trip from Brockville, Ontario, to New York from October 2-10, 1888. She and her companions left Brockville by steamboat and transferred to rail at Morristown. The diary details visiting Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as Macy's and other stores. The final pages of the diary contain calculations and a short list of purchases, including boots, shoes, paints, and collars. A few pages in the diary begin to recount a second trip in 1889, as well as some poems. In addition to the diary is a sepia cabinet portrait by Sheldon & Davis, Kingston. The visiting list contains numbered entries of visitors for 1897, 1898, and 1899. There are also some addresses.

The thirteen documents are depositions taken by Lord Selkirk concerning the conflict with the North West Company at the Red River Settlement in Manitoba and at Fort William. On 11 June 1815, representatives of the North West Company attacked and fired upon the colonists, and demanded the surrender of Governor MacDonell, who, to avoid the loss of blood, gave himself up voluntarily. He was taken to Montreal as a prisoner, and charges were laid against him by his enemies, but his case was not tried. These depositions concern this case.

Collection includes a scrapbook and a file of memorabilia of Dr. Anderson and his family, 1894-1952. It contains letters, menus, programmes, certificates, a manuscript of a poem, a contract to purchase, ferrotypes, and many newspaper clippings.

This collection consists of translations from Terence, begun in 1778, and correspondence on military, political and private matters, 1787-1821, mostly addressed to Thomas Coutts, banker.

The collection consists of fifteen volumes, primarily manuscript with some printed, containing over 1,300 culinary and medical handwritten recipes, plus numerous loose recipes also mainly manuscript. The documents in the collection originated chiefly from the Doncaster area of South Yorkshire, centred on Hooten Pagnell Hall. Many of the manuscripts and notes are signed by or addressed to Sarah Anne Warde. Series 1 comprises the fifteen bound volumes, two of which are printed works by female authors, while the remaining thirteen are manuscript notebooks. Two of these manuscript notebooks are attributed to Sarah Anne Warde, while one is attributed to Eliza Smithson. The manuscript attributed to Eliza Smithson contains table setting riddles (also known as an enigmatical bill of fare). Loose recipes are found in Series 2. This series consists of approximately 300 culinary, medical, and household recipes dating from roughly the 1780s through the 1850s.

The Donald Mackey Collection consists of the Donald Mackey and Renaissance Singers of Montreal complete portfolio of CBC broadcast programmes and scripts. In addition, the fond contains documentary artifacts including correspondence, concert programmes, photographs, audio recordings and special projects that chronicle Mackey’s career as conductor of the Renaissance Singers of Montreal and his life in Montreal. This includes information about his professorship at the faculty of music of McGill University, his active involvement in Montreal’s vibrant church music scene as organist and conductor, his appointment as University Organist Emeritus, etc.

The collection consists of an inventory list; a volume labelled "Equipment. Steamer Relief / Pontoons & Wrecking Plant / Lower St. Lawrence / 19 May 1882 - 22 February 1883," containing 22 used pages.; a volume labeled " Wrecks & Disasters," a scrapbook of clippings and printed documents, 1882-1884, with 39 used pages; a blank "Share Subscribers Register" consisting of 6 pages; and a "Winter Navigation of River St. Lawrence / Copy of Log of Steamer 'Folger,' of the Dominion Salvage and Wrecking Co., Montreal, 1883, containing 12 pages.

The David Hume Collection contains letters and other ephemera brought together from multiple acquisitions. The principal manuscripts are found in is the bound volume containing letters from David Hume to the Comtesse de Boufflers. There are also letters from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others for a total of 59 letters. This collection of letters was the basis for the anonymously edited Private Correspondence of David Hume with Several Distinguished Persons, Between the Years 1761 and 1776. Now First Published From the Originals. (London: Printed for Henry Colburn and Co., 1820.) One of the McGill copies of this book belonged to the Montreal lawyer and book collector Frederick Griffin (1798-1877). In addition to this volume there are eight other Hume letters. Some of these have been published by Professor Klibansky and Ernest C. Mosser in New Letters of David Hume. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954). Finally, there are photographic copies of Hume manuscripts held by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and typed copies of official letters on Canada from the manuscripts of Sir Mark Dalrymple.