Gray began his Commonplace Book in about 1736 and he continued to add notes to it until the end of his life. William Mason also copied some additional materials into the volume, including fair copies of poems and some notes, between 1771 and 1775. The volumes contain a variety of notes and essays under headings, many poems by Gray, copies of other poems, book­lists and other items. The Commonplace Book, which is split into 3 volumes, was paged consecutively from A­-H and 2­-1112, with some omissions.