Forty three notebooks, 1873-1915, the majority of which are numbered and labelled with a list of contents, recording inscribed stones examined by John Rhŷs mostly in Wales, the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Ireland. They contain descriptions of his journeys, of stones and inscriptions, folklore and other related notes. Also included are unbound diaries of 'ogham hunts', 1883-1899.

Five letters and one postcard, 1873-1876, from the Celtic scholar (Sir) John Rhŷs, Rhyl, to W[illiam] H[enry] Bliss, then an assistant librarian at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, mainly discussing early inscriptions in Welsh and Cornish and in ogham (ff. 37-42 verso).
Rhŷs refers, 18 June 1874, to the recent death of his daughter, [Gwladus] (f. 38). Several of the letters are annotated in pencil by W. H. Bliss (ff. 37 recto-verso, 40, 42); the final letter, 23 September 1876, is written on a circular advertising Rhŷs's forthcoming volume, Lectures on Welsh Philology (London, 1877) (f. 42 verso). Also included is a copy of Bliss's obituary from The Athenaeum, 20 March 1909, p. 346 (f. 43), and some pressed flowers (with f. 40).