The collection of reproductions from the Foreign Office series held by the Manuscript Division document Great Britain’s relations with the United States and other countries in the Western Hemisphere. The Foreign Office was created in 1782.

Foreign Office 4 (FO 4) consists of correspondence of the Foreign Office (secretary of state for foreign affairs or other official in his stead) with British agents in the United States from the conclusion of peace in 1783 through 1792, and other papers relating to America including loyalists' claims, 1782-1794, and correspondence with David Hartley, peace commissioner at Paris, 1783-1784.

Foreign Office 5 (FO 5) consists of correspondence of the Foreign Office (the secretary of state for foreign affairs or another official in his stead) with British ministers to the United States beginning in 1793 ("general correspondence"); "domestic" communications, containing notes exchanged between the Foreign Office and the United States ministers to Great Britain, and other domestic correspondence; consular records; and records of commissions.

The Foreign Office 115 (FO 115) series consists of the archives of the British legation and consulates in the United States and includes papers received at or originating in the British legation and consulates in the United States, and later deposited in the Foreign Office. They contain the original instructions sent by the Foreign Office (secretary of state for foreign affairs, or another official in his stead) to the British minister to the United States, and drafts (or copies) of dispatches from the minister to the Foreign Office; the same to and from the consuls; and miscellaneous. The original dispatches from the ministers and consuls to the Foreign Office and the draft instructions are found in the FO 5 series.

Beginning with the year 1839, with a few exceptions, the original instructions to the minister, as found in the FO 115 series are contained, in reproduction, in this collection. In the exceptional cases, that is, where the original instructions are not found in the appropriate volumes in the FO 115 series in the Public Record Office, it has been the practice of the Library of Congress to substitute reproductions of draft instructions found in the FO 5 series.

Of the remaining series of reproductions from the Foreign Office, most are smaller selections of much larger groups of materials with a particular emphasis on United States history. The Division does hold a microfilm edition of FO 75 which documents Great Britain's relations with the Republic of Texas (1840-1846). Also on microfilm are records from FO 288 and FO 289 which relate to Britain’s relations with Panama (formerly United States of Colombia).