Series I spans the period from 1791 when Anderson was a medical student to 1864, only a few years before his death. The series is arranged into two subseries: Engravings; and Drawings and Paintings.

Engravings included here are generally illustrations, certificates, and other documents. Two large prints Anderson engraved after European artists Johannes Ridinger and David Teniers both date from 1818. A copy of one of these, Teniers' "Water Fowl," is printed on silk. Most of Anderson's other engravings were small, either vignettes or illustrations for books. These have mostly survived as small paper scraps cut from the original publication, and illustrate biblical scenes, animals from encyclopedia entries, and other subjects.

Anderson's medical illustrations are well-represented. A wood engraving of a male skeleton, measuring over 36 inches high, is a unique print. Anderson reported copying the skeleton design from an edition of anatomical drawings by Bernard Albinus (1653-1721). An engraved male anatomical figure, measuring 42 by 13 inches, is one of three copies known to exist.

One folder contains Anderson-related material that once belonged to Benson Lossing, one of Anderson's admirers and biographers. This folder includes thirty-five engravings, a carte-de-visite portrait of Anderson's second wife, Anderson's business card, and letters from Anderson and his wife to Lossing. This material was purchased together by the Society and has thus been kept together.

Engraved documents include Anderson's admission tickets to medical classes at Columbia College. As a student, he received a commission to engrave these small cards with the names of the classes and professors printed on them. Also included here are two small engravings commemorating an undated Columbia College commencement ceremony.

A wedding certificate for the wedding of Miss Frances Huntington to Josiah Phillips Quincy, on December 23, 1858, is also present.

A program from a Festival of St. Nicholas celebration held at the New-York Historical Society in 1864 tells the story of the first such celebration in 1810 in which Dr. Anderson was feted. The program is illustrated with Anderson's engraving of John Pintard, librarian of the Society, and a self-portrait.

Drawings and Paintings found in this series include eleven original pen and ink and watercolor drawings by Anderson. Medical subjects include images of vertebrae, muscle cutaways, and a neck abscess. Two watercolors show the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, where Anderson journeyed in 1798 after the death of his wife, to visit his uncle Alexander, who was the director of the Botanic Garden on the island. One drawing is a design for an emblem for the "Journeymen Stone-Cutter's Society."

Series II. Scrapbooks contains two volumes which span the period from ca. 1810 to ca. 1860. One scrapbook, the smaller one of the two, is bound in red leather and inscribed "Miss Julia Anderson" on the cover. On the inside cover is inscribed in ink, "Alexander Anderson Halsey. From his father, April 1st 1872." Alexander Anderson Halsey was the son of Anderson's daughter Julia. This scrapbook contains examples of Anderson's wood engravings, often three or more per page. Some of these engravings have been annotated by an unknown hand, with captions such as "Rochester as it appeared in the year 1812." Another engraving has been annotated "I saw Grandfather engrave this in 1853, when I was 10 years old-Mary E. Halsey," suggesting that Mary Emmeline Halsey acquired the scrapbook from her brother Alexander. There is also one watercolor of a waterfall by Anderson pasted in. The last nine pages of the book contain wood engravings by Ann Anderson Maverick, Anderson's daughter.

A larger scrapbook is titled on its spine, "Scrapbook of engravings by Dr. A. Anderson. Collected by his daughter, Mrs. Mabie, with additions by his granddaughter, Mary Emmeline Halsey." This scrapbook includes portraits of Indians, book illustrations (including illustrations from Shakespeare and the Bible), vignettes, bookplates, and business cards.

Series III. Works by Others includes two folders of material that is not by Anderson. These are included here because they were given along with material that became the heart of this collection, and are either works picturing Anderson, or created by other members of his family. An 1887 pen drawing by E. C. Lewis is a copy of a self-portrait Anderson engraved on wood. One folder contains an engraving by Anderson's daughter, Ann Anderson Maverick (ca. 1810-1863), several by her husband Andrew's uncle, Peter Maverick (1780-1831), and an engraving by Peter's daughter, Emily Maverick Stoutenburgh (1803-1850). These engravings were in the possession of Mary Emmeline Halsey, Anderson's granddaughter and were given with the rest of her Anderson material.

Series IV includes a letter from Anderson's granddaughter Mary Emmeline Halsey to Daniel Parish, which discusses Anderson material in her possession, and that which had been bought from her by Parish (who later donated it to the Society to form this collection.) A set of seven of Alexander Anderson's engraving tools is included here, as is an albumen photograph of the tools photographed by F. M. Burr and presented to the Historical Society in 1886.

These prints are housed in a flat file drawer.