The notebook contains Reginald Campbell Thompson's very early research on Assyrian inscriptions based on the tablets held by the British Museum. Thompson transcribed, transliterated, translated and wrote notes about the cuneiform inscriptions in around 15 letters, including the reference number for each which was probably used on the British Museum catalogue. The notebook opens with an introduction by Thompson on the inscriptions and the Assyrian language.

Written on the back of the flyleaf is a note in pencil – presumably by Thompson at a later date – describing why the manuscript was written and what came of it:

“This is the MS which I submitted to the 'Smee Prize' at St Paul’s School in 1894, together with a portfolio of the text enlarged (duplicated). The High Master, F.W. Walker, blessings on his head for all his encouragement (I dedicated my first book to him), recommended it – God help us! – for a special prize of £10. I have the books which I bought with this in my shelves.”

The manuscript is 69 pages, followed by a vocabulary section at the end which is 28 pages long. Inserted with an errata note on page 33 correcting errors in the text.

A set of five notebooks entitled:

• “Assyrian Inscriptions R. C. Thompson, 1894”
• “Algeria 1901”
• “Kodak Sinaiticus or Grads and Ghouls, 1902”
• “Tripoli 1903” and “A year in Nineveh, 1904–1905”
• Newspaper cuttings and assortments of notes and letters

Two printed pamphlets entitled:

• “A list of words and phrases in the Basrah Dialect of Arabic”
• “On traces of an indefinite article in Assyrian”