The collection consists of four commonplace books kept by Murray, an American diplomat and minister to the Netherlands, during the years 1786 to July of 1800. The first volume (1786-1798) begins in London, England, and continues in Cambridge, Maryland (Murray's birthplace), and Philadelphia, and includes notes on public speaking, trade, politics, Shakespeare, etc., and also mentions his future wife, Charlotte [Hughes?]. The second volume (1787-1795) includes Murray's impressions of the "political face of the moment," notes and copies of articles he had published in local newspapers, notes on treaties, land taxes, treasury reports, and distinguished foreigners; copies of letters to Thomas Jefferson; and a lengthy discussion of the Indians in Maryland, including a vocabulary, with English translations, of Nanticoke words. The third and forth volumes (1799-1800) include copies of letters to Talleyrand, George Washington, and Col. T. Pickering, home remedies for bone-setting and frozen limbs, plus recipes for glue, dye, butter, and coffee. Murray also discusses his observations of Paris and Washington (D.C), impressions of Charles Bonaparte and Robespierre, and the XYZ Affair. In addition to the commonplace books, there are letters to Robert Gilmore, Elbridge Gerry, and Sylvanus Bourne, a poem, and a few manuscript fragments.