The collection includes drafts of writings, correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, clippings, drawings, diaries, and audio recordings documenting the life and work of the American writer Robert Nathan. Drafts of Nathan's writings make up the bulk of the collection, and include novels, screenplays, short fiction and prose, speeches, and poetry; the writings include story ideas, or "false starts," that Nathan did not publish. Correspondence and other papers document his family relationships, in particular that with his sister Marian Kraus Sandor. Other major correspondents include Stephen Vincent Benét, Herbert Feis, Lawrence Kubie, Dan H. Laurence, and Marjorie Bitker. The collection also documents an exhibition of Nathan's work in the Yale University Library in 1962.