This collection features expedition records, original letters and maps of exploration and colonization, and "diaries of discoveries" from South America, from narratives of Columbus' first voyage (at Sloane Ms 1709) to the end of Colonial Spanish rule. The set covers European exploitation, evangelization, and botanical and geographical exploration in South America from Texas to Tierra del Fuego, and features maps, scrolls, descriptions of voyages by sea and river, terrain, flora and fauna, settlement posts, plantations and mines, missionary activities, and "diaries of discoveries."

Territories represented include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Florida, Guatemala, Guiana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Patagonia, Peru, Puerto Rico, Texas, Uruguay, Venezuela and the West Indies.