This collection consists of personal and working papers of Carlos Fuentes, Mexican author, editor, and diplomat: notebooks, manuscripts of novels and novellas, short stories, plays, screenplays, nonfiction writings, speeches and interviews, translations of fiction and nonfiction, correspondence, juvenilia, drawings, documents, photographs, audiocassettes, papers of others, scrapbooks, and printed material. Included are manuscripts and some galleys and page proofs with holograph corrections of the novels La cabeza de la hidra, Cambio de piel, La campaña, Constancia y otras novelas para vírgenes, Cristóbal Nonato, Una familia lejana, Gringo viejo, La muerte de Artemio Cruz, El naranjo, o los círculos del tiempo, La región más transparente, and Terra Nostra; draft manuscripts and some galleys and page proofs for the English translations of the novels listed above, and for novels Aura, Diana, The Goddess Who Hunts Alone, The Years with Laura Diaz, and Inez. There are also drafts of short stories collected under the titles Agua quemada, Cantar de ciegos, Chac Mool y otros cuentos, Cuerpos y ofrendas and Los días enmascarados; drafts of plays Todos los gatos son pardos, El tuerto es rey and Orchids in the Moonlight (English and Spanish versions); drafts of program scripts for the television series The Buried Mirror, and Spanish language version El espejo enterrado; and drafts of the companion books to the TV series.

The collection also includes drafts of screenplays written by Fuentes, or in collaboration with others, such as "Children of Sanchez," "Juarez," and a film about Luis Buñuel; and many manuscripts of screenplays written by others, several of which are adaptations of Fuentes' books, such as "Aura" by Serge Sandor, "Birthdays" by Guillermo Cabrera Infante, and "Old Gringo" by Luis Valdez. The Nonfiction and Speeches and Interviews subseries are extensive and include a wide variety of journalism written for major newspapers and magazines in the U.S., Mexico, and Spain and for other publications. Speechs include Fuentes' Harvard University commencement address, and his acceptance speech for the Premio Cervantes [literary prize] delivered in 1983 and 1988, respectively.

The papers also include correspondence with translators and drafts of many translations of Fuentes' writings. Included are typescript drafts, galleys, and page proofs of translations by Margaret Sayers Peden of several of Fuentes' novels, including Terra Nostra. Correspondence between Peden and Fuentes spans the period 1971-1990; correspondence with Céline Zins, primary translator of Fuentes' writings into French, is also extensive and spans 1970 to 1992.

The Correspondence series covers the period 1944-1994, and includes letters from family members and a wide range of publishers, literary agents, artists, filmmakers, and politicians.

There are letters received and letters sent by Fuentes to Latin American writers, including Alfonso Reyes, Miguel Angel Asturias, and Juan Carlos Onetti, and to writers of the "Boom" in Latin American fiction, such as Cabrera Infante, José Donoso, Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, and Mario Vargas Llosa. Some of the Mexican writers represented in the collection are Octavio Paz, José Emilio Pacheco, Elena Garro, Elena Poniatowska, Fernando Benítez, Ramón Xirau, María Luisa Mendoza, and Carlos Monsiváis.

There is also extensive correspondence with international writers Harold Pinter, Milan Kundera, Vasiles Vasilikos, Italo Calvino, Régis Debray, Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, and William Styron, among others, and with filmmakers and film producers, including Luis Buñuel, Joseph Losey, Manuel Barbachano Ponce, and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. The series also includes correspondence with literary agents and publishers that documents the financial and public success of Fuentes' career. Some of the publishers and literary agents represented are Brandt & Brandt, Carmen Balcells/Agencia Literaria, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Fondo de CulturaEconómica, and Editorials Joaquín Mortiz and Seix Barral. Publishing executives include Carlos Barral, Joaquín Díez-Canedo, Claude Gallimard, José Luis Martínez, Arnaldo Orfila Reynal, and Roger W. Straus, Jr. Correspondence with Farrar, Straus & Giroux covers the period 1963-1993 and includes contracts and other publishing documents. There is also a large amount of correspondence with students and readers, covering the period 1962-1994.

The collection also includes juvenile writings and drawings from the 1940s and early 1950s, and other miscellaneous cartoons and drawings. There are photographs of Carlos Fuentes and others, miscellaneous documents, and audiocassettes and videcassettes of the author's readings speeches, and other presentations.

The Papers of Others series includes manuscripts by a wide variety of Latin American and American writers, including a one-act play by Octavio Paz and short stories by Juan Rulfo and Julio Cortázar; copies of several doctoral dissertations and other theses on Carlos Fuentes; and a typescript draft and page proofs of a book edited by Cintio Vitier, Antología de la poesía hispanoamericana contemporánea (1925-1955).

There is a large amount of printed material both by the author and about the author in the Scrapbooks, Clippings, and Printed Material series. There are clippings and articles in many languages and from publications around the world. Articles include essays, book reviews, interviews, and bibliographies of the author's work. There are 27 scrapbooks, compiled by the author, which contain clippings, memorabilia, and photographs. The series also includes Christmas cards, invitations, maps, menus, and lecture and conference programs.

The Additonal Papers are comprised of notebooks; page proofs; drafts of writings by Fuentes, including novels, articles, essays, reviews, and speeches; English translations of works by Fuentes; videocassettes and audiocassettes; drawings; subject files relating to academic and cultural institutions, publishers, editors, colleagues, other writers, artists, cultural and political figures, friends, and others; speeches and talks given at conferences, convocations, awards ceremonies, lectures, and symposia; printed materials, including event invitations, programs, posters, book covers, publication proofs, photographs, published speeches, press kits, and essays by and about Fuentes; a large number of newspapers and press clippings containing articles by and about Fuentes, including reviews of his works; a few digital files; and other materials. Also included are 14 letters from Carlos Fuentes to Carolyn Pfeiffer written between 1969 and 1971, covering topics of film, including Fuentes' collaboration with Luis Buñuel, theater, literature, and personal matters.