This remarkable document is evidently a large parchment-bound auditor's book relating to the collection and auditing of the subsidy granted to Henry VIII in 1523. A modern note on the front cover states that it forms a list of the names of the commissioners for the second collection of this tax, as noted on the first folio, but the book contains far more than this.

The first few folios of the book, heavily annotated with a variety of rough notes and jottings, contains details of courtiers assigned to administer this tax in the households of the king, the queen, other members of the royal family and Cardinal Wolsey, all seemingly for the second collection, and also assessments upon members of the nobility. The main text of the book begins on fol 7, and lists for each county the names of the various groups of commissioners, the hundreds, wapentakes or other units for which they were responsible, the names of the collectors appointed and the sums due.

However, from fol 56 to fol 131, the book moves on to the third collection, and gives details taken directly from the returns submitted to the Exchequer from the localities for that payment. As well as the names of the commissioners and collectors for each area, it also lists the names and assessments of all the individuals in each area liable to pay this collection, thus giving a largely complete set of assessments for the whole country for this payment. Fols 132-70 then give details of the fourth collection, listing the names of the commissioners and collectors for each taxation area and the amount due (but not the names of the individual taxpayers). The final section of the piece, folios 175-209, comprises a second, smaller book stitched to the rear of the first, simply listing the counties of England and the constituent hundreds or wapentakes. Marginal notes next to these names seem to refer to a series of certificates, and presumably record the receipt or processing of the certificates for each of the four collections. No other details are recorded in this section.

The book is undated, but presumably was compiled at various stages during or after the administration of this tax, during the middle years of the 1520s.

The document has been indexed according to the pencil numbering in the lower right corner of each folio. The larger numbering in the upper corner is inconsistent and erroneous in places, and should be ignored. The final section of the book (fols 175-209), which simply lists the administrative units of England, has not been indexed.