The collection consists of material relating to the publication of New Poems, 1943: An Anthology of British and American Verse (New York, N.Y.: Howell, Soskin, Publishers, 1943), a collection of war poetry edited by Williams. The majority of the collection is composed of correspondence by the contributing poets to Williams, and both corrected and uncorrected galley proofs of poems. Among those who wrote to Williams are John Berryman, e. e. cummings, Robert Lowell, Archibald MacLeish, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Allen Tate, and Mark Van Doren. There is also a complete typed manuscript of the anthology, including Williams' introduction and background material about the 40 poets represented.

The following standard abbreviations, or their variations, are used to identify materials in this collection: ALS = autograph letter signed, TLS = typed letter signed, TNS = typed note signed, and TMsS = typed manuscript signed.