The collection consists of works, articles, lectures, reviews, notes, and correspondence of Howell, professor of rhetoric and oratory (1952-1972) at Princeton. Included are his original manuscripts, relevant correspondence, and reviews for Eighteenth-Century British Logic and Rhetoric (1971), and Poetics, Rhetoric, and Logic Studies in the Basic Disciplines of Criticism (1975), and various lectures, speeches, and reviews of other works on rhetoric.

Also present are English Dept. course bibliographies on rhetoric; letters (1971-1977) of recommendation for students; correspondence and reports reflecting Howell's position as chairman (1948-1972) of the board of trustees of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society at Princeton; and correspondence with Irving Dilliard, Willliam Edinger, James J. Murphy, Julian P. Boyd, Norman Thomas, and others. In addition, there is correspondence with Barbara Warnick as well as a copy of her manuscript for Fenelon's Letter to the French Academy (1984).