This collection was assembled by Court and was partly used in the book, "The History of the Microscope" (with Reginald S. Clay, London, 1932). There is historical correspondence (including some by Court), documents, broadsides, and photographs, concerning microscopes and instruments. This includes material on Joseph Bonomi, James Epps, John Lee, Edward Nairne, and others. There is significant material on Cornelius Varley: account book, autobiographical sketch, watercolors and sketches, etc. This collection also contains a large number of deeds pertaining to the property of John Lee (1783-1866), Fellow of the Royal Society and an amateur astronomer. In addition, there are about 300 pamphlets, including early trade and auction catalogs, used by Court for his research.

This is a diverse collection, including correspondence, drafts of letters, notes and notebooks (on biometric methods; tables and formulae; science, nature and method; coefficient and correlation; vitalism; Japanese language); commonplace book (1924); autobiography; and over one hundred folders of unpublished writings. The correspondence and other material covers a variety of topics, including biology, eugenics, evolution and natural selection, human heredity, paramecia, protozoa genetics, U.S. immigration policy. There is much on the Seventh International Congress of Zoology (1907); letters to his father and wives, and from students and colleagues on his seventy-fifth birthday, 1943 (1 v.); diplomas and certificates of membership; and photographs.

Edward Uhler Condon was a theoretical physicist at Princeton University and Westinghouse Laboratories who later served as director of the National Bureau of Standards (1945-1951), and as the director of research and development (1951-1954) and consulting physicist (1954-1974) at Corning Glass Works. The Condon Papers includes correspondence, notebooks, writings, photographs, and other materials concerning Condon's education, teaching, and his government, industrial, and academic.