The collection consists primarily of signed, autograph manuscripts--42 letters and 19 poems--of Rossetti. Among the sonnets, lyrics, and spiritual verses are "Autumn," "A Discovery," "A Hopeless Case (Nydia)," "My Old Friends," "Ruin," "River Thames," and "Winter, A Christmas Carol." Addressees of the letters include William Bryant, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and her brother Dante Gabriel. All of the poems and most of the letters are undated. Other Rossetti material are a receipt (signed, autograph document, 1871) given to Roberts Brothers on the sale of Poems and a memo (1860) addressed to the editor of The Cornhill Magazine. There are four letters from her sister, Maria Francesca, addressed to Edith Bevir, and one letter to Christina from Jean Ingelow. In addition, there is an essay by MacKenzie Bell entitled "Christina Rossetti: A Criticism," with letters to Bell.

A significant addition is a manuscript copy (56 pp., circa 1850), in Christina"s hand, of "The Life of Giovanni Boccaccio by Gaetano Polidori," an unpublished biography written by her grandfather, Gaetano Polidori. The cover bears a signed inscription by Polidori, dated 7 December 1852, presenting the manuscript to Francesca Rossetti, his daughter and mother of Christina. Included is a note (1898) by William Michael Rossetti explaining the family history behind the manuscript.