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The Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery journal chronicles the future British Prime Minister's travels in the United States in 1873. Rosebery visited New York City, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Ottawa, Montréal, and Boston.

The Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, journal chronicles Rosebery's travels through the United States in 1873. He began the journal on October 1, 1873, in New York City, with a detailed description of his journey to the United States from London, via Dublin, on the Russia, "supposed to be the fastest of the Cunard ships" (p. 3). He related his experiences in detail, including a particularly vivid description of the New York Stock Exchange during the Panic of 1873 (p. 12). On October 7, Rosebery prepared to depart New York for Salt Lake City, which he reached by train five days later. During the journey, he described places and scenery, including Chicago and the Platte River (pp. 31-42). On October 14, he met Brigham Young (p. 57), and he remained in Utah until the 16th of that month. Following another transcontinental train voyage, Rosebery stayed in Chicago for two days, then left for Niagara Falls and Ottawa, Canada (pp. 79-109). He remained in Canada until November 5 (pp. 109-118), when he departed for Boston and New York (pp. 118-125). Aside from a weeklong visit to Washington, D. C., from December 2-10 (pp. 183-206), he remained in New York for the rest of his American tour. He returned to Europe on the Russia in mid-December (pp. 224-254).

Rosebery peppered his journal with descriptions and occasional commentary, but focused primarily on specific experiences and conversations. The earl met many prominent Americans during his stay in North America, including senators, Supreme Court justices, and other political figures, and described a lecture given in Brooklyn by Henry Ward Beecher (pp. 143-147). Beecher did not impress the Englishman, who called him "a buffoon without the merits of a buffoon. He has neither force nor ornateness of diction," though "after…I was introduced to him…in conversation he impressed me more favourably" (pp. 146-147). During his time in Washington, D.C., Rosebery saw "the original draught of the Declaration of Independence in Jefferson's handwriting" and a number of other important historical artifacts, and shared his opinion of a George Washington portrait (p. 202). Other notable experiences in New York included a visit to a trial, to the Tombs prison (pp. 28-30), and to "the Girls' Normal School" (p. 151).

The George Philip Hooke journal is a 21-page officer roster and journal of the 1st Battalion of Grenadiers in the British army, which describes their travel from New York to South Carolina. The volume also contains copies of 30 catch tunes, many with lyrics.

The George Philip Hooke journal (21 pages) is comprised of an officer roster and a journal of the 1st Battalion of Grenadiers in the British army under Henry Clinton, from December 1779 to May 1780. Hooke described the battalion's voyage from New York to South Carolina; gave the movements of his battalion during the landing at St. Simons Island, Georgia; and provided eye-witness accounts of various scrimmages in the southern campaign, including the siege and surrender of Charleston. Hooke described sinking the damaged "Judith Transport" (January 16, 1780); meeting the British fleet under Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot, at Tybee Harbor, [Georgia] (February 3, 1780); and positioning and attacking the rebel forces at Charlestown, South Carolina, between March 29 and April 13, 1780.

At the back of the journal, after 48 blank pages, are copies of 30 catch tunes (comic rounds). The British baroque master Henry Purcell and popular composer Henry Harington wrote several of the songs, though many are unattributed, such as "The Quaker Wedding: A Catch for three voices," and "Come Honest Friends" (52 pages of music in total).

This travel journal documents a journey from the Missouri River to California during the time of the California Gold Rush. The trek began on April 28, 1850, near Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri River, and ends on October 31, 1850, at Georgetown, California, on the edge of what is now the Eldorado National Forest, north of Sacramento.

The Gold Rush travel journal (44 pages) spans the period from April 28, 1850, to October 31, 1850, and details an overland journey from the Missouri River to California, during the time of the California Gold Rush. Of the diary's 44 pages, the last 9 contain lists of food purchased from stores and traders (buying tobacco and food and selling gold), and the final page concerns buying food in St. Louis (May 29, 1849).

The author made entries every few days and provided descriptions his location, total distance traveled, and, occasionally, of weather and temperature. While the party traveled mostly by horse and wagon, they also used rafts and ferries to cross rivers. Entries are short and generally provide only details of the scenery and the party's routes on their way west. The author began his journey on the Missouri River at Elizabeth Landing, and ended it at Georgetown, California. Several entries specify his location with names of rivers and landmarks, including the Little Blue River, "Grand Island" (north of Fort Kearney), the Platte River, Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater River, the Soda Springs, the Bear Creek River, Goose Creek, Mary River, "Hudspeth’s Cutoff," and the Humboldt River. The traveler also mentioned the killing of a buffalo by a William Hubbard, trading with the Sioux Indians on the North Platte River, signing Chimney Rock, and passing by a spring hot enough to boil coffee. He provided financial details such as the cost of particular ferry crossings and supplies. At one point, the author recorded being ill with mountain fever, but quickly recovered without further incident. On June 2nd, he noted that "the dust [was] very bad and the ground was covered with Alkali and the dust [on the] mountains looked like they had burned for a thousand years."

On October 1, 1850, the author left his company and traveled to Georgetown, California, and began working on a claim at Pools Bar on October 5, 1850. His last entry is from Georgetown, California, on the edge of what is now the Eldorado National Forest, north of Sacramento.

Diary by a 20-year-old teacher from New York, containing observations made during an 1853 stay in Mississippi, including thoughts on slavery, African American churches, Southern culture, and the outbreak of a yellow fever epidemic from which he died. The volume also contains a eulogy in a different hand for Mary Lyon, founder of Mount Holyoke.

The 79-page James A. Marshall diary covers July 5-August 27, 1853, during which time Marshall traveled around Mississippi before falling ill with yellow fever and dying on September 5. An unknown person removed 54 pages of writing preceding the July 5 entry. Marshall’s diary contains lengthy and opinionated daily entries, many of which probe Southern society, which, as a New Yorker, he found quite foreign. In one entry, Marshall criticized Southern women: “indulgence certainly is a distinguishing characteristic of the southern lady. Physical exercise they all are averse to and if they even drop their handkerchief upon the floor at their feet, if no servant or gallant is near to pick it up…it must lie there until one comes to restore it” (p. 73). In another entry, Marshall expressed surprise that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was available in Mississippi, writing, “it seems the people here are not ‘afraid’ of reading such books, or having them circulated” (p. 75).

Marshall had an interest in African Americans, and on several occasions, visited a “Colored People’s Church, Methodist I inferred,” but criticized the service for its loudness, comparing it to a “meeting of the shaking Quakers” (p. 85). On July 23, he gave details of a slave auction that he attended: “One girl was sold for eight hundred and eighty dollars, only 16 years old and quite good looking. The man who bought her made no scruple of telling his object in buying her” (p. 98). Despite his special interest in African Americans, his opinions were paternalistic, and he expressed support for slavery, even speculating about owning a plantation himself: “It really would be very interesting it seems to me to have, as all the large planters have, a family of several hundred at ones control: not because of the power allowed, but to feel the satisfaction of being a tender Master to them, and to feel that all their interest were united and to enjoy the pleasure of giving them pleasure” (p. 117).

At the end of the diary, Marshall mentioned the yellow fever epidemic that would kill him within weeks, writing, “I shall not stop at Natchez on account of the Quarantine which has been established both at N. and Vicksburg on account of the prevalence of yellow fever… I am convinced that there is little if any danger to any one who uses due caution in diet” (103).

The volume also contains a 7-page eulogy on Mary Lyon, the founder of Mount Holyoke College, seemingly written by someone who knew her personally. The essay describes Lyon’s personality, manner of dress, and recounts things she said to her students. Also laid into the volume is a religious meditation.