Probably prepared by the actor William Cartwright around 1642, and later presented by him to Dulwich College, the collection contains unique copies of several Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline dramas, including significant works like Edmund Ironside and Thomas of Woodstock.
Some of the plays, like The Two Noble Ladies and the two Heywood works, are judged to be autograph scripts, in the handwriting of the authors.
The untitled masque in the collection has strong commonalities with the work of George Chapman; it borrows a long passage from The Tragedy of Byron, suggesting Chapman influence rather than authorship.
[7] The Launching of the Mary is a "first draft, written at different times, with different inks, and on different paper."
The anonymous works in the collection have been the subject of attribution studies, and disagreements.