The collection contains typed transcripts of letters written by H. Rodney Sharp (1880-1968) while the Sharp family, friends, and children's nurses traveled around the world. Most of the letters are addressed to Frank A. McHugh (1889-1946), private financial secretary to P.S. du Pont (1870-1954), and the remainder to an unidentified "J. C.," who is the child of a friend or family member. One of the letters is from Isabella du Pont Sharp (1882-1946). The itinerary begins in Kyoto and ends in Venice.

The letters reflect views typical of wealthy Western tourists to the Orient. For the most part, the Sharps enjoyed first-class accommodations booked through Thomas Cook & Son and, with the exception of a formal call on an Indian maharaja, socialized almost entirely with English tourists and colonials, and other Westerners. The itinerary included most of the standard tourist sights: Japanese spas, Mount Fuji, Peking, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao, Rangoon, Mandalay, Calcutta, Benares, Darjeeling, Mount Everest, the Taj Mahal, Cairo, the Pyramids, even an audience with the Pope on the homeward leg. Much of the description is of these tourist attractions, and much is somewhat superficial. However, there is an excellent account of Mount Fuji's ascent at night to witness the sunrise from the summit.

Sharp also describes in some detail the small armies of porters, guides, professional beggars, and others who live in part on the tourist trade. There are rather standard contrasts between Western and Eastern customs, but Sharp is usually open-minded, even in describing practices he regards as bizarre, and he rarely condemns the behavior he encounters. His most disparaging remarks are reserved for the protests that Gandhi was organizing against the Raj. This same Anglophilia leads him to condemn the Dutch and Portuguese colonials. Otherwise, he discusses both the positive and negative aspects of Japanese colonialism in Korea and laments the decay, famine, and warlordism he encounters in China.