The collection consists of letters Henry Larcom Abbot wrote to his parents in 1855, journals kept during his survey work of 1855-1856 in California and Oregon, and various books of field notes and celestial observations taken for the survey. The collection also includes a microfilm copy of one of Abbot's field books. Also in the collection is the text of an address given by Robert W. Sawyer at the 1943 launching of a Liberty ship named for Abbot.