Folios 1-119 have the original pagination pp.1-238 and ff.120-159r are blank. A contents page in the front of the volume describes the varied sections as follows:
- Lectures on the principles and practice of surgery delivered by Sir Astley Cooper (1768-1841), pp.1-121
- Remarks on the management of the placenta when it presents first, or is come away before the child, author unknown, p.131
- Instructions to a tyro on the use and application of the midwifery forceps, anonymous, p.135
- Remarks on the use of the forceps in midwifery by Dr Granville, pp.170-189
- Practical Directions on preserving the perineum by Dr John Harvie, pp.191-218
- Latin examination etc. by Sir Henry Halford (1766-1844), pp.222-237
- Case of aneurysm of the external iliac artery in which the abdominal aorta was tied by Sir Astley Cooper, 25 June 1817, ff.159v-160v
Cooper's lectures are clearly numbered and the contents are as follows: (1) introductory lecture, (2) on irritation, (3) on inflammation, (4-5) on the treatment of inflammation, (6) on suppuration and ulceration, (7) on abscess, (8) on granulation & cicatrisation [cicatrix], (9) on the treatment of ulcers, (10) continuation of ulcers and on erysipelas.
The manuscript was formerly part of the Radford Library, St Mary's Hospital, Manchester where it was allocated the reference number Q 147 viz. their 1877 library catalogue. It was subsequently given the reference B6 C49 as part of an alternative system.