In these notebooks, Daniel John Cunningham kept very careful and detailed notes and drafts for lecture courses and public lectures. He also kept is notes on literature and on anatomical dissections and experiments, which were often illustrated. A single notebook may cover a wide range of subjects and the handlist entry is as full as possible but not exhaustive.

The number in the entry title is the number given to the notebook by Cunningham, and reflects his arrangement. The incompleteness of this sequence indicates that several volumes are missing.