The collection consists of more than 200 short handwritten essays by freshmen students in the Literary Department of the Syrian Protestant College in 1885. Topics include "Manliness," "Arabic Sciences," "Marriage in Our Country," "The Fights of Boys," "Death," "The Silk Worm," "Strength," "Home Life in Syria," "Ancient Scriptures and Vestige of Antiquity," "The Habits of Our Country," and more. The collection is bound in two volumes.Volume 2 may predate volume 1.

This collection consists of three copies of a typescript of Patterson's 250 page memoir. These items were organized as a manuscript collection in May of 1997.