These are primarily letters with family members in Ireland while Harvey traveled and lectured in the United States. In 1849 he lectured on botany at the Lowell Institute in Boston and toured much of the eastern coast of the U. S. There are detailed letters about what he saw and the people he met.

These papers include sketches made on a trip to the United States, Canada, and the West Indies; catalogs of objects of natural history, such as fish, animals, insects, and fossils, sent by him to the Museum; and notes.