Blank book measuring 3⅞ × 6¾ × ¾ (10 × 17 × 2 cm). The volume contains 126 leaves (252 pages). There are three flyleaves at the front and the back of the volume, with a fourth leaf at the front and back pasted to the boards. The journal has a tight-back, limp binding, supported by two strips of vellum tape. The boards and spine are covered with brown calf leather. The spine contains a gold-tooled inscription: “WOODRUFF’ | JOURNAL | VOL. 2.”

The rectos of all three flyleaves in the front were inscribed by and contain a title page, a summary of statistics from Woodruff’s first journal, and the subtitle “THE FIRST BOOK | OF | WILLFORD VOL. 2. | FOR | 1838”. An unknown scribe later labeled the verso of the pastedown: “1st. | January 1st. 1838. | to | December 31st. 1839.” Woodruff inscribed all of his journal entries in the first six gatherings of the book in brown ink; the remainder of the volume is blank. Woodruff decorated his entries with borders, drawings, flourishes, and symbols; it seems that he used some of the decorations to track information such as performed, meetings attended, and letters sent and received. This volume was the second journal Woodruff wrote in after his in December 1833. The format of this journal—which begins with a brief personal history, followed by daily journal entries—appears to be patterned after his earlier journal. The volume contains daily journal entries from 1 January 1838 to 31 December 1839. These entries were apparently copied from earlier daybooks that Woodruff seems to have written in regularly and that he expanded upon in his journal entries. Woodruff caught up on his copying in the second journal by 8 August 1839, when he departed for a mission to and left the journal with his wife, Phebe. Presumably, Woodruff copied the remaining entries for 1839 sometime following his return to the in 1841. He did not copy any entries beyond December 1839 into the volume, although he had inscribed only half the volume. He inscribed later entries in a different volume. A March 1858 catalog record in the Church Historian’s Office indicates that Woodruff’s “Private Papers” were in the possession of the office by that time, probably because of his position as assistant church historian. A July 1858 inventory clarified that these papers included Woodruff’s journals. The journals likewise appear on later inventories, suggesting that the second volume has been in continuous institutional custody.