The papers of Professor Gordon Donaldson within Gen. 1627-1645 consist of general and individual correspondence and correspondence with institutions and publishers. There is material and notes on churches, about crofters, emigration, genealogy, and the Northern Isles. There are lectures and notes; personal and family papers; photographs; and, press cuttings. There is manuscript material, typescript material, and proofs. These all cover the period 1935-1993.

The collection also contains circa 60 manuscripts and fragments at E2005.20. These are held in 23 separate folders in 2 boxes and represent examples of formal legal and historical Scottish documents. They had been Donaldson's private collection which he used to illustrate his Scottish documents and Palaeography courses held in the 1970s. Some are dated and from 1549 to 1740. Some are undated and may be from the 15th century. Unlisted. A few are photocopies.

Additionally, in E2005.23 there is a collection of colour and black and white slides (diapositives/transparancies) contained in two boxes. The slides show: houses and castles, and domestic architecture generally; views of Scotland, the Scottish coast, the western and northern isles, and Scottish family trees, charters, seals, other documents; Scottish towns including Dysart; Faeroe Islands; Scandinavia; England; France; the Mediterranean including Gibraltar, Sicily and Israel; Turkey; Greece; Dubrovnik, former Yugoslavia; and the USA and Canada.

At SC-Acc-2023-0148 there is printed material regarding the Gordon peerage, and facsimiles of historical documents from the School of History, Classics and Archaeology.

Also includes a booklet entitled Address to the Town Council of Edinburgh by Thomas Smith Esq., one of the present old Bailies, delivered in his place at the Council Table, on Friday, Sept. 27, 1799, At choosing the Leets for New Magistrates; containng Some Account of the City's Affairs - its debt, revenue, expenditure etc., and a folder of original legal documents pertaining to the sale of property by the Bowie family, dating from early 17th century (possibly 16th century) to 1910, with many documents dating from the 18th century.