Born in Boston and educated there and in France, Samuel Breck (1771-1862) was a major figure in the mercantile, philanthropic, and political life of Philadelphia during the first hald of the nineteenth century. With an interest in historical and literary affairs, Breck was an active member of the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Phialdelphia Athenaeum, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the American Philosophical Society (elected 1838). The Breck Collection is comprised of two manuscripts written by Samuel Breck. The first, "Historical Sketch of the Continental Bills of Credit, from 1775 to 1781, with Specimens Thereof" (1840), includes an essay and 153 specimens of Continental Currency. The second essay, "Recollections of My Acquaintance and Association with Deceased Members of the American Philosophical Society" (1862) includes the 92 year-old Breck's reminiscences of his personal relationships with the nationally and internationally prominent membership of the APS.

Letters (including some transcripts and photostats) from and to Vaughan from many American and British correspondents, including: Also personal correspondence and business papers of Benjamin, Charles, Petty, Samuel Sr., Samuel Jr., William, William Oliver, and Sarah Vaughan (2 boxes); lectures, mostly in shorthand (3 vols.); a large number of notes and memoranda on a wide variety of topics, such as agriculture, architecture, astronomy, diplomacy, diseases, dueling, electricity, hieroglyphs, internal improvements, medicine, meteorology, land, manufactures, politics, punctuation, religion, silk-manufacturing, stock-breeding, taxation, Unitarianism, Benjamin Franklin, John Locke, Napoleon I, Joseph Priestley, Bowdoin College, town of Hallowell, Maine; notes on the peace negotiations, 1782-1783; miscellaneous legal papers; genealogy of the Abbott-Vaughan families. For a personal account of the collection, see Mrs. Mary Vaughan Marvin, "The Benjamin Vaughan Papers," APS Proceedings 95 (1951): 246-249.