This collection consists of virtually all of the surviving records of Scribners (1846-1984), the New York City publisher, and reflect aspects of all of its publishing functions (soliciting and acquiring books, editing manuscripts, printing and manufacturing books, advertising and publicizing publications) and business concerns (book and magazine publisher, retail bookstore, subscription books department, educational books department, printing press and bindery, rare books department). Included are files of editorial correspondence with authors, manufacturing records about book production, advertising records, author contracts, a collection of dust jackets, book catalogs, ledgers, and photographs. While there are gaps in most of the series or record groups, there are records representative of all of the firm's former permutations: Baker & Scribner, Charles Scribner & Co., Scribner, Armstrong & Co., Scribner, Armstrong & Welford, Scribner & Co., Charles Scribner's Sons. The bulk of the material (1880s-1970s), however, dates from the period when the publisher bore its most familiar name, "Charles Scribner's Sons." There is also material related to early publishers' organizations and international copyright.

Jacob Viner (1892-1970) is considered one of the greatest economists of the twentieth century. His career was spent at the University of Chicago and Princeton University, and he also frequently served as an advisor to the United States government. His primary academic interests included international economics, international economic relations, and the history of economic thought, but his investigations ranged across many disciplines. Viner's papers document his scholarship, as well as his government service, and include correspondence, manuscripts, reports, and research materials.

John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), the fifty-third Secretary of State of the United States for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, had a long and distinguished public career with significant impact upon the formulation of United States foreign policies. He was especially involved with efforts to establish world peace after World War I, the role of the United States in world governance, and Cold War relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Dulles papers document his entire public career and his influence on the formation of United States foreign policy, especially for the period when he was Secretary of State, and include his correspondence files, as well as his writings, reports, and memorabilia.

Ferdinand Eberstadt (1890-1969) was a prominent Wall Street investment banker who also served in several government posts throughout his career. During World War II, he organized the production and distribution of supplies to the United States military through his work with the Army-Navy Munitions Board and the War Production Board, and he was subsequently involved in plans for the reorganization of the armed services and in the development of post-war economic policies. The Eberstadt papers primarily document his extensive career in public service to the United States related to defense and the economy, as well as his career as an investment banker and his personal life, and include correspondence, reports, his writings, and his personal papers.

The papers of Whiting Willauer (1906-1962) reflect Willauer's entire career, but focus most strongly on the period from 1941 to 1954 when Willauer was in China and worked for China Defense Supplies, Inc. (1941-1944), the Foreign Economic Administration (1944-1945), the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration [NRRA] (1946-1947), and Civil Air Transport, Inc. (1946-1954). The papers also document his positions as an admiralty lawyer for the New York City law firm, Bingham, Dana and Gould (1931-1938), as Attorney, Criminal Division at the Department of Justice and Special Assistant to United States Attorney General (1929-1940), Special Counsel for the Federal Power Commission (1941), and his appointments as United States Ambassador to Honduras (1954-1958) and Costa Rica (1958-1961). In addition, materials which reflect Willauer's role as a delegate to the Organization of American States' Meetings of Foreign Ministers (August 1960) and to the United Nations General Assembly (October 1960) are found in the papers.

The Harold Nicolson Papers consists of papers of the English diplomat, journalist, and biographer Harold Nicolson (1886-1968). These papers primarily contain correspondence received by Nicolson, but there is also a large series of letters written by Nicolson to Richard Rumbold, as well as a few to others. Also included in the collection are manuscripts and/or working notes for four of Nicolson's published works. Furthermore, there is a small amount of papers of others, chiefly correspondence by and to Nicolson's wife, "Vita" (Victoria) Sackville-West.

Consists of a closed collection of more than 5,000 Western Americana photographs, consisting mostly of documentary photographs of the Trans-Mississippi West from the late 1860s to early 1900s, largely from the perspective of white photographers and settlers. Subjects include American Indians (especially studio portraits), natural wonders, cities, towns, buildings, and economic activities (mining, railroads, logging, and agriculture). Some photographs relate to the Indigenous populations of Mexico and Central America. The dimensions, physical formats, and photographic processes of the photographs vary widely.

Consists of the papers of Hungarian-born, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner, and includes correspondence, subject files, writings, and offprints reflecting his long career in physics.

Bruce and Beatrice Blackmar Gould were co-editors at the Ladies' Home Journal in the mid 20th century. Bruce Gould also worked with the Saturday Evening Post. Their correspondence includes letters between Bruce and Beatrice about their co-editorship and co-authorship, letters with writers for the Ladies' Home Journal, and letters from actresses about the Ladies' Home Journal. Also included is a collection of letters about Marion Crawford's book The Little Princesses, some of Beatrice's speeches, speeches by others, and printed matter.

Charles W. Yost (1907-1981) led a varied career as a diplomat, United Nations representative, writer, and scholar. He was a member of the foreign service intermittently between 1930 and 1971, after which time he devoted himself full-time to writing and teaching. Yost's papers document his professional life in the Foreign Service, as well as his time in academia, and include his correspondence, writings, and photographs.