This series consists of William Jovanovich's files on nearly two hundred authors and publishers with whom he worked. Author files consist of correspondence with authors, their agents, and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich editors, as well as originals and copies of early manuscripts and drafts of writings, press clippings, book jacket proofs, recordings, and other editorial materials, although not all files contain both correspondence and writings. While author files primarily exist for authors whose work was published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, there are also files on authors whose works Jovanovich was considering publishing before a contract fell through, those like Ambrose Bierce and Hart Crane whose works he was interested in reprinting, and authors he did not publish but to whom he otherwise provided guidance or kept up correspondence. Publisher files consist largely of correspondence and include a significant amount of material related to Helen Wolff, of the Kurt and Helen Wolff Book imprint of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, a collaboration that began in 1961. Author files on Edward Dahlberg, T. S. Eliot, Vane Ivanović, Marshall McLuhan, and Carl Sandburg are particularly extensive.

This series consists of editorial correspondence, writings by and about Charles A. Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, photographs, clippings, and other research materials. The contents reflect William Jovanovich's role as the primary editor and compiler of Charles Lindbergh's Autobiography of Values, as well as his role as the executor of Lindbergh's literary estate. Shortly before Charles Lindbergh died in 1974, he called William Jovanovich to his hospital room, handed over a suitcase containing almost 3,000 pages of drafts written over three decades, and asked Jovanovich to shape them into a publishable autobiography. With the help of Judith A. Schiff, an archivist at Yale University, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich published the heavily edited Autobiography of Values in 1978. While Lindbergh's original drafts reside at Yale, this series includes Jovanovich's working drafts for Autobiography of Values throughout the editorial process, as well as related correspondence, photographs, and research materials. Some drafts, notes, and other editorial materials pertaining to The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh, which Harcourt Brace Jovanovich published in 1970, are also present.

This series contains William Jovanovich's general correspondence, with the exception of author and publisher correspondence, which can be found in Series 1: Author and Publisher Files and Series 2: Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Files. Correspondence in this series spans personal and professional topics, following three different original filing systems: alphabetical by correspondent name, chronological, and topical. Correspondence regards Harcourt Brace Jovanovich's publishing activities, Jovanovich's own writings, and personal relationships with fellow professionals and former employees, among other subjects.

This series consists of drafts, proofs, notes, research files, and source materials for Jovanovich's own writings and lectures, along with related correspondence, reviews, and clippings. Materials span his written works in nonfiction and fiction, as well as lectures and speeches on various topics related to publishing and writing, although some works are documented much more thoroughly than others. Jovanovich's nonfiction books, essays, and speeches largely revolve around the publishing industry, textbook publishing, the value of education, Serbian history, and creative writing. Writings represented in this series include Jovanovich's novels Madmen Must (1978), The Last Place (1978) and The World's Last Night (1990), his collection of essays Now, Barabbas (1964), and his memoir The Temper of the West (2003). While major works comprise their own files, there is also an alphabetical run of shorter essays and speeches, containing typescripts and clippings. Also included are several files regarding lectures Jovanovich gave at various colleges and universities, as well as some related correspondence.

This series consists of reports, correspondence, publicity materials, memorandums, and other documents related to William Jovanovich's role as chairman at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. While files are not comprehensive, they do document Jovanovich's attempt to avoid a takeover of his company by the British publisher Robert Maxwell in the late 1980s, publishing ventures in the Soviet Union, Georgia, and Yugoslavia, and the Harcourt Brace & Company merger with the World Book Company. Also present is a group of correspondence and other materials related to Jovanovich's employees, colleagues, attorney, and independent contractors who supported his publishing operation, as are annual reports, company memos, and proposals regarding textbook publishing. Company memos and policies consist both of formal office memorandums, as well as certain correspondence that Jovanovich kept and circulated articulating his thoughts on religion, evolution, and other topics as they relate to publishing. There is also a group of address cards that document Jovanovich's professional contacts during his time at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

This series documents William Jovanovich's personal and family life and career history. Transcriptions and recordings of interviews with Jovanovich, articles focusing on his biography and career trajectory, publicity materials, and correspondence related to his many honorary degrees and awards reflect Jovanovich's public life, while personal and family memorabilia, correspondence, and a collection of materials related to Serbia and Montenegro document his private interests, collecting habits, and family history.

This series includes correspondence, itineraries, printed materials, and other documents regarding William Jovanovich's participation in a variety of professional activities outside of his immediate role as a major publisher, including in the promotion of international publishing projects abroad, service on university boards of trustees, social club memberships, civic groups and task forces, committee service, philanthropy, and travels.