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John S. Dunning kept these two autograph albums between 1856 and 1861, while a student at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and the Theological Seminary of the Northwest (now McCormick Theological Seminary) in Chicago, Illinois. Along with autographs, many contributors wrote poetry, quotations, personal notes, and reminiscences.

John S. Dunning kept these two autograph albums between 1856 and 1861, while a student at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and the Theological Seminary of the Northwest (now McCormick Theological Seminary). He collected signatures from his friends and classmates in Princeton, New Jersey, and Chicago, Illinois, between 1856 and 1861. Most signers wrote brief personal notes or brief poems reflecting on friendship and reminiscing about their time at college/seminary. They variously recorded their dormitory room numbers, hometowns, and Greek or Latin quotations. The first volume consists entirely of writings by young men and the second volume includes entries by both men and women.

Ned Holden accompanied his note with two sketches: one sketch is of two men at a "Jersey Pines Deer Hunt" and another of a well-dressed man smoking (Volume 1). J.H.G. Blythe, a native of New York, wrote an 11-page reflection about Dunning; J. Kings of Americus, Georgia, expressed his fervent support of Millard Fillmore; and Morris C. Sutphen apologized for his inability to compose a line, as a result of too many recent autograph requests.