This collection consists of an incomplete, typescript of 156 pages of "The History of New California" edited by Leigh H. Irvine and published in 2 volumes by Lewis Publishing Co. (1905). The manuscript is a partial draft of the first part of volume 1. Many chapters were written by important educators and scholars such as David Starr Jordan and James O'Meara. The manuscript has no bibliography or footnotes.

Leigh Hadley Irvine (1863-1942) was an author, editor, and journalist. He was, at various times, the assistant managing editor of the San Francisco Examiner in 1888, Sunday editor of the Sacramento Union (1898-1899), managing editor of the newspaper syndicate, 1906-1909, and managing editor of the Daily Eureka Times (1912-1913). Irvine was also the author of a number of books, including: Irvine's New Cyclopedia of Diction, (1910); A History of California's Bench and Bar, (1912);and the History of Humboldt County, (1913).

Collection is open for research.