This collection primarily consists of manuscripts, specifically corrected typescripts, by British author and philhellene Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990). Many of the manuscripts, written during the final decades of Durrell's life, are unpublished. Also included is an autograph scrapbook entitled, "Diary and Rough Notes 1955," documenting his time living in Cyprus; it contains manuscript notes, photographs of his family, stamps, and other ephemera. There is also a copy of Otto Rank's Art and Artist with a lengthy inscription by Anaïs Nin to Lawrence Durrell on the front endpaper, dated Paris February 27, 1938, and scattered marginal annotations and underlining throughout.

Papers related to Françoise Kestsman Durrell include some correspondence, specifically letters received at the time of Lawrence Durrell's death, and a galley proof of her publication, Too Far to Hear the Singing: Poems by Lawrence Durrell (2005).

Though most materials are in English, some are written in French.