This collection is comprised of three boxes of American and British materials from 1902-2000, pertaining to the mysterious disappearance of the crew during a voyage of the brigantine Mary Celeste in 1872.

The 206-ton brigantine Mary Celeste left New York on November 7, 1872 bound for Gibraltar, carrying a cargo of sixteen hundred barrels of alcohol. The vessel was discovered abandoned on December 4, 1872 by the brigantine Dei Gratia approximately 600 miles WNW of Gibraltar. The circumstances of her abandonment and the ultimate end of the officers and crew, including Captain Briggs, his wife, Sarah, and their infant daughter, Sophia, has remained a mystery to this day. There have been numerous theories postulated concerning her abandonment, but without documentary evidence all explanations are speculation. This collection is divided into four series.

Series I. Dr. Oliver W. Cobb Papers primarily contains correspondence to and from Dr. Oliver W. Cobb. Authors, editors, librarians, relatives of the Briggs family, and interested readers offer explanations, address various accounts and theories, and provide and request information related to the Mary Celeste for publications in newspapers, magazines, journals, and books. The bulk of this correspondence includes letters to and from the author Charles Edey Fay, dating from 1939 to 1944, including photostats of Captain Briggs' letter to his mother in 1872, consular correspondence (1873), and a "Mutual Release" form (1872).

Series II. Newspaper Clippings and Articles contains original and photocopied newspaper and magazine articles related to the Mary Celeste's voyage in 1872 and the crew's disappearance. Explanations, speculations, sensational accounts, and survivor stories are included in these articles. They are arranged chronologically.

Series III. Harold M. Cobb Papers includes correspondence to and from Harold M. Cobb with authors and librarians pertaining to the development of or supplementation to his collection. The transcription of a tape recording made in the Orkney Isles in 1962, library book records from the Chester County Library in Exton, Pennsylvania, and library holdings from the Phillips Library related to the Mary Celeste are included.

Series IV. Mary Celeste Research Materials contains book reviews, photocopies of ships logs, a copy of the Gibraltar enquiry transcript, the unpublished paper "Sinbad's Genie" (1942), the Reader's Digest article "The Mary Celeste Enigma—Unsolved Mysteries of the Past" (1991), a book draft from Watt (1999), and the last chapter from Rose Cottage (1940) by Dr. O.W. Cobb. Printed material from websites related to the Mary Celeste can be found in this series; these websites provide international viewpoints and reviews about books and movies related to the Mary Celeste.