The Isabella Gardner Papers contain manuscript and editorial material toward most of her books drafts of individual poems as well as letters to and from various editors, friends, and family.

The William H. Gass Papers consist largely of his own manuscript material: manuscripts and proof material toward his books, drafts of various stories, essays, and reviews, interviews, and a miscellaneous assortment of notes and other materials. Also present is a substantial amount of professional correspondence, primarily with universities, magazines, and publishers, as well as with his colleagues in academia and in the literary community.