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The collection contains correspondence with the authors, including contracts signed with authors as well as negotiations with the authors over various aspects of publishing their works; financial records documenting many aspects of the operation of Harper & Brothers, including royalties paid to authors, records of stock offerings and company reorganizations, and general ledgers which contain daily notes on all aspects of the operation of the business; book catalogues and trade lists; research materials collected by Eugene Exman for his history of Harper & Brothers; visual materials, from drawings and photographs of Harper's authors to colophon designs and an oil painting of the original Harper's building.

The collection consists of 32 letters written by Samuel L. Clemens to Mary Benjamin Rogers (Mrs. H.H.), his niece by marriage, and four letters written to Clemens and forwarded by him to Mrs. Rogers with comments. The letters are very personal in tone, full of Clemens' well-known wit, and revealing of his personal characteristics. There are a few clippings, cartoons, and one photograph. Also, a collection of 18 letters written by Clemens to Dorothy Sturgis, 1908-1909, relating to the "Angel-Fish Aquarium." There is also one typescript of the Constitution of the Club"The Aquarium, Issued by the Admiral;" and a photograph album of the Mark Twain Dinner, 1905.

A group of titles from the series. Among the authors represented are: Arnold Bennett; Willa Cather; Joseph Conrad; John Ruskin; Upton Sinclair; Mark Twain; and P. G. Wodehouse