This volume contains notes taken by Issac F. R. Mulock of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during lectures given by Dr. Henry McMurtrie on physics and anatomy and by John S. Hart on the history of public schools in Philadelphia. McMurtrie's lectures were given in 1845 and Hart's were given at Central High School (Philadelphia) in 1847.

The Bassoon, spanning the dates 1889-1892, consists of five volumes of a handwritten serial that was created by members of the Bachelor’s Ten Society, a club of teenage boys who attended Central High School in Philadelphia. The manuscripts include serial stories, cartoons, caricatures, editorials, plays, sporting reports, and poetry.