Ten of the eleven manuscripts authored by Coles are letters directed to his wife Catherine. The first of these was begun on 17 July, one day after Liverpool's departure from New York. Coles continued writing following the wreck—from the ship's boats, from St. John's, and ultimately from the schooner Eliza,—until 25 August, the day prior to his return. There is also a ballad recounting the wreck, in 20 stanzas, composed by Coles aboard Eliza. Coles' manuscripts are at once fervent love letters and an epistolary diary, recording his adventure as events unfolded. There is no reason to believe these are not Coles' original manuscripts, perhaps given to Catherine on his return to Long Island (each of the sheets is enclosed in a numbered wrapper, as described by Coles in the letter dated 11 August). The collection also includes two supplementary accounts of the disaster. In a three-page letter written on his return to New York, Capt. Lee informs his father of the "Total Loss" of the ship, describing the wreck and its aftermath. And in another letter Lee's nephew William L. Woodard, who was also aboard Liverpool, recounts the same events in greater detail.