This collection includes the outbound and inbound correspondence of Éleuthère Irénée du Pont and his wife, Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont, covering personal and business matters. These include personal accounts, writings and memoirs, legal documents, and miscellany, of which the majority are accounts. There are also papers of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. that date from 1802 to 1850 and include correspondence (drafts, retained copies, and letters received), contracts and other legal documents, accounts, bills and receipts, checks, promissory notes, bills of exchange, drafts, and certain miscellaneous notes and memoranda.

E.I. du Pont's correspondence relates to both personal and business matters. The letters dating before 1800, prior to E.I. du Pont's arrival in America, are concerned with the career of his father and brother. After 1800, much of the correspondence concerns the founding and operation of the powder mills on the Brandywine. There are references to French and American politics, Thomas Jefferson's criticism of Napoleon in 1812, and the visit of Lafayette to the United States in 1824.

The personal papers contain household accounts, bills and receipts, and promissory notes. Also included are writings and memoirs dating from 1771 to 1830. E.I. du Pont's writings include botanical notes; a memorandum entitled, "Etat des citoyens employés à l'imprimerie du C. du Pont pour les assignats de 10 sous," listing names and addresses of employees; a memorandum concerning crops and livestock; and a copy made by E.I. du Pont while a student of Jean Joseph Rousseau, "Lettres élémentaries sur la botanique à Madame de Luxembourg."

Sophie Dalmas du Pont's papers primarily consist of outgoing correspondence, most of it written to her husband and her eldest child, Victorine du Pont Bauduy (1792-1861). The correspondence after their arrival in the United States documents her role in the family's black powder business. She wrote to her husband while he was away and kept him apprised of the work at the mills and on the farm, paid bills and oversaw the accounting, corresponded with customers, and entertained visiting business travelers, as well as family and friends. Her letters to Victorine were usually written while her daughter attended Madame Rivardi's school or visited friends in Philadelphia and reflect a close mother-daughter relationship.

Accounts consist of Sophie du Pont's household account books dating from 1801 to 1802 and various bills and receipts that document expenditures for groceries, clothing, and personal items. There is also a bill for Victorine's tuition and expenses.

The papers relating to E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company date from 1802 to 1850. They contain correspondence with customers, including representatives of the U.S. Navy; the Bureau of Ordnance; and the Frankford, Washington, and Harpers Ferry arsenals. These letters discuss experiments with saltpeter and other raw materials, formulas for gunpowder manufacture, and safety concerns. Other files document company finances, efforts to raise capital, relationships with foreign producers, and experiments with turbines by Alfred V. du Pont and Ellwood Morris. Names marked with asterisks denote company agents.