Autographed letters written at Boston by Unitarian clergyman and Harvard professor James Freeman Clarke to John P. Woodbury and to unidentified "Dear Professor", acknowledging contributions of money received from Woodbury for charitable causes, and offering advice on recommended reading.

Letter written from Berlin, to Charles Sumner, urging his influence in obtaining appointment of Alexander W. Thayer to diplomatic post in Prussia; letter also pertains to personal, political, and other affairs in Prussia and in the United States, and to Henry Wilson (Jeremiah Jones Colbath), Robert Apthorp, and Joseph Albert Wright.