The collection consists of works, correspondence, and documents of Prentice, as well as selected papers of his father and various other family members. Included in the papers are approximately 65 manuscripts and printed articles and lectures by Prentice, mainly on classical topics or his association with Princeton and the Class of 1892; family and academic correspondence with Thomas Seymour, John Foster Dulles, Howard Crosby, Max Farrand, William Kelly, W. Parmalee Prentice, William Packer Prentice, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Woodrow Wilson, and others; personal documents; and biographical and genealogical records.

Papers of William Packer Prentice include lectures and printed articles; some correspondence; journals, 1849-1915; personal documents; letters received by him and O. M. Mitchell during the Civil War; and other Civil War documents. Also present are family papers, including photographs, Prentice family correspondence (1852-1965), a small file of Hutton family correspondence (1830-1841), and a number of printed writings by various family members, including a typed copy of a diary by Jemima Parmalee Prentice of a pioneer journey (1816) from New Hampshire to New York, "Recollections" by Ezra Parmalee Prentice, "Mount Hope" by E. Parmalee Prentice, and articles and documents of Robert and William Kelly.