The papers document the entire professional life of John William Dunne, pioneer designer of tailless aircraft, writer on parapsychology, fly-fisherman, and children's author.

They document his experiments and developments in aviation, with diagrams and calculations, drawings, paper models, papers about the experiments at Blair Atholl, correspondence including letters about patents, photographs, and more. There are also papers relating to his work for the military on bacterial warfare, and the manuscript of 'The Millennium', a play that he wrote on the subject.

The second strand of Dunne’s work, that of a writer, arose from his interest in dreams and precognition. He published An Experiment with Time in 1927, a book that attracted great general interest and influenced many contemporary writers and thinkers, including H. G. Wells, J. B. Priestley, C. S. Lewis, Walter de la Mare, and Kipling. The archive includes the manuscript of this book as well as Dunne's later publications and extensive correspondence with other writers and the general public. Letters from many of Dunne’s readers offer details of their own dreams and psychic experiences.

The archive also holds a selection of Dunne's fly-fishing equipment. Dunne was a noted fly-fisherman, fly-tyer, and fly-designer, and he wrote on the subject. This element comprises mainly tins and envelopes of coloured silk, fabric and feathers for fly-fishing, and miscellaneous hardware.