John Byrne was a student of the Glasgow School of Art from 1958 to 1963, while Douglas Percy Bliss was its Director. The letters concern Byrne's early career as a painter and playwright and his relationship with Portal Gallery, Mayfair, London, where he exhibited under the name 'Patrick'.

With ephemera collected by Bliss including printed leaflets and catalogue guides to 'Patrick''s exhibitions, newspaper cuttings on John Byrne's work, and John Byrne's 1999 Millenium commemorative stamp, 'Migration to Scotland'.