The collection consists of selected papers of E. F. H. Sutton (Princeton Class of 1895), a physician and poet, and his collection of papers of his longtime friends, the former Countess Marguerite (de Godart) Cunliffe-Owen and her husband, Frederick Cunliffe-Owen. After losing their European fortunes, the Cunliffe-Owens came to the United States in 1885 from France, and they began writing careers. Frederick wrote for newspaper editorial and society columns concerning, for the most part, European affairs and the social life of the nobility, and Marguerite published a series of biographies and novels. Their papers include correspondence with family, friends, and such persons as John Whitelaw Reid, Jules Jusserand, Theodore Roosevelt, and German and English ambassadors; manuscript pages, book contracts, family documents and genealogies, many photographs (mainly of Marguerite), and watercolor drawings; and letters, photographs, and documents relating to the New York City Police Department of which Marguerite was a benefactress and honorary deputy chief (ca. 1920). In addition, there are personal objects such as cigarette cases, seals, a flask, photograph frames, small daggers, medals, and decorations.

Sutton's papers include drafts for his memoir of Marguerite entitled "The Princess Au Revoir," written about 1929, and a new introduction (ca. 1940) to her book Martyrdom of an Empress (1899), neither of which has been published. Also present are typescripts and galleys for a volume of his selected verse, Carmina Nassovica (1936), miscellaneous poems, clippings, documents, and photographs.