Subseries consists of records related to the early history of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. These records pertain to a great many areas of British Columbia history and highlight the development of the province, including voyages of discovery and exploration in the Pacific Northwest, the fur trade (including records from the Hudson's Bay Company), British Columbia geography such as the mapping and navigation of rivers and mountains, British Columbia flora and fauna, and the development of communities and regions around British Columbia including the social, cultural, and economic history of major centres such as Victoria and Vancouver.

These records include published monographs, manuscripts, pamphlets, cards, serials, correspondence, maps and maritime charts, technical drawings, journals and diaries, newspaper clippings, broadsides, scrapbooks, photographs, engraving plates, certificates, stamps, and ephemera such as calendars, menus, invitations, and receipts.

This subseries includes a number of rare items, such as "Order in council constituting the Supreme Court of Civil Justice of Vancouver Island" (1858) which is thought to be the first book published in B.C. or "The Frazer River Thermometer: Great Gold Discoveries of 1858” which provides a very rare example of a San Francisco broadside advertising the Fraser River gold rush.