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Manuscript account books and documents which illustrate and document the history of accounting and business procedures from the 14th century into the 20th century. The earliest item is Ms. 18, a Papal bull relating to notaries and appointing Julius de Gentilibus as a notary; the latest is an invoice book from 1941. The types of volumes contained in this collection include instruction books, daybooks, waste books, journals, bank books, ledgers, receipt books, storage books, invoice books, registers, ships' logs, letter books, diaries, town books, tax roll books, articles of agreement, bills of sale, deeds, wills, and many other significant items. The material originated in many countries around the globe, and represents a range of business and occupations from household to trading company (e.g., English (East India Company) and French East Indian Company (Compagnie des Indes orientales) volumes), and from itinerant laborer to lawyer and physician. The majority of the manuscripts are English and American of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The earliest American account is Ms. 75, 1690-1730, Josiah Winslow, Plymouth, Mass.

Letters and documents, the majority written between 1700 and 1900, dealing with both personal and corporate business and financial matters, assembled by Montgomery. The letters are chiefly by American and English writers. Many of the American letters are to and from various United States Treasury officials, usually the Secretary of the Treasury. Of the 107 letters by Joseph Anderson (1757-1835), U.S. Senator and jurist, the majority are written to Samuel Swartwout (1783-1856) when he was Comptroller of the United States and Collector of the Port of New York. Most of the documents are American with New York City firms predominating.