This collection represents a partial set of the catalogs and records that Olcott used to organize and classify his collection of antiquities. He would assign each item acquired a catalog number and provide a description of the item and often a note of provenance or an indication of how much he paid for the item. Many of these records describe physical items held by the RBML as part of the Olcott coin, epigraphy, and Arrentine pottery collections.