In this manuscript letter Cooke opens by telling of admiration for the "Grand System" by which Owen aimed to remove poverty and ignorance. He writes of having gained more useful knowledge and happiness in the last 18 months under the auspices of Owen's ideas that he did in the previous 40 years of his life.
Cooke's belief in Owen's ideas and his resolve to heed his advice led him to establish a reading room at the co-operative works [in Worcester]. For this purpose Cooke requires more books and he asks Owen for a signed copy of his "Book of New Lanark".
Cooke moves onto discussion of a meeting he had with a man who claims to have invented a digging machine that would enable one man to do as much work as a horse and plough.