This is a scrapbook of newspaper clippings concerning secession and the early days of the Civil War dating to 1860-1861. The creator is unknown. The clippings in the notebook span a range of subjects from speeches concerning secession, poems, gubernatorial and presidential proclamations, to accounts of early military engagements. The scrapbook appears to be created from bound, blank copies of court papers from Mason County, Virginia. It also appears that the scrapbook was burnt at one time. Part of its edges are charred slightly.