These papers include letters (1797-1851), letterbooks (1811-1844), registers (1807-1815), and miscellaneous manuscripts.

Letters addressed to Larrey and to his son, Baron Felix Hippolyte Larrey, chiefly from American medical personages. Correspondents include: Daniel Brainard, Charles P. Brigham, Robley Dunglison, Richard Willmott Hall, Felix Pascalis, and David Bailie Warden.

This is primarily a collection of letters and manuscripts sent to Wistar by prominent men who were among his many correspondents. These documents reflect his broad interests, including botany, paleontology, medicine, the American Philosophical Society, and André Michaux's plans for exploring the Missouri.

This collection contains miscellaneous letters and papers relating to explorations of South America, Cuba, and Mexico; scientific investigations; Latin American antiquities and linguistics; and publications. There are also copies of 26 letters from Humboldt to Pierre Hyacinth Azais and Jules Berger de Xivrey, from originals at the Duke University Medical Center Library.