The papers of Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (1899-1977) span the years 1918-1974, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period between 1925 and 1965. Focusing on Nabokov's work as a poet, novelist, literary critic, lecturer, and translator, the collection consists of the following series: Correspondence, Writings, Miscellany, a 2003 Addition, a 2024 Addition, and Oversize containing holograph and typescript drafts, galley proofs, page proofs, and printed versions of biographies in addition to book reviews, essays, interviews, memoirs, novellas, novels, plays, poems, short stories, translations of works by others, and related material. The bulk of the collection is written in Russian and English. In most instances, titles of Nabokov's works are based on English translations of Russian citations appearing in Michael Juliar's Vladimir Nabokov: A Descriptive Bibliography. There are also small amounts of material in French and German.

The Correspondence series is arranged as letters received and sent. Although small in quantity, it contains letters from prominent figures in Russian literature and culture including IU. I. Aikhenvalʹd , Mark Aleksandrovich Aldanov, Nina Nikolaevna Berberova, Nikolai Berdiaev, Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, Ivan Lukash, V. A. Maklakov, V. F. Khodasevich, Boris Rapchinskii, V. V. Rudnev, and V. Zenzinov. Various Russian-language emigré publishers and publications are also represented in the series, such as Petropolis, Novoe russkoe slovo, Poslednie novosti, Russki zapiski, and Sovremennye zapiski. Subjects include publication deadlines, copyright issues, and author's fees, as well as Nabokov's interest in butterflies. The letters of Gaston Baty and Jarl Priel discuss the performance possibilities of Nabokov's play Catastrophe, the French translation of Sobytie. Other correspondents include Peter Pertzoff, translator of works by Nabokov; Altagracia de Jannelli, Nabokov's literary agent in the United States; and lepidopterists Nathan Banks and Charles Duncan Michener.

The Writings series constitutes the largest portion of the collection. The bulk of the series consists of material relating to works of nonfiction, translations of works by others, and novels and reflects both the Russian and English language periods of the author. It was as a writer in English following his move to the United States in 1940 that Nabokov began to achieve serious recognition as a novelist. His writings were banned in the Soviet Union until the 1970s. Nabokov's first of several book-length autobiographies, Conclusive Evidence: A Memoir, is documented in files by that name. He regarded the process of translation as a serious literary endeavor, frequently quoting Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin's phrase: “Translators are the post horses of enlightenment.” While in America, Nabokov began to translate many of his earlier writings into English and, at times, made extensive revisions to the original text. Such is the case with Drugie berega, the Russian-language edition of Conclusive Evidence. Files related to Nabokov's English translation of Pushkin's novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, include material in which Nabokov reflected upon the translation process. The file also includes copious explanatory notes, extensive commentaries positioning the narrative within the context of European society during Pushkin's time, comments on the work's significance in Russian literature, remarks upon previous translations by others, and two lengthy appendices and an index. Additional material relating to Eugene Onegin is present in the Bollingen Foundation Records in the Manuscript Division. The series also contains files on Nabokov's translation of the anonymous Russian epic, The Song of Igor's Campaign.

Nabokov's considerable output of novels is documented in the Writings series. Titles representing his Russian period include Dar ( The Gift ), Mashenʹka ( Mary ), Otchaianie ( Despair ), Podvig ( Glory ), Priglashenie na kaznʹ ( Invitation to a Beheading ), and Zashchita Luzhina ( The Defense ). Those representing his American period include Bend Sinister, Lolita, Pale Fire, and The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. The Writings series also contains material relating to a number of plays written in Russian by Nabokov during his early years. These include Izobretenie Valʹsa ( The Waltz Invention ), Polius ( The Pole ), Sobytie ( The Event ), and an unpublished work, “Tragediia Gospodina Morna” (“The Tragedy of Mr. Morn”). A sizeable amount of material documents the author's film adaptation of his novel Lolita entitled Lolita: A Screenplay.

Holograph and typescript drafts of numerous poems written by Nabokov throughout his career are in both Russian and English. Representative titles include “Bezumets” (“The Madman”), “Chto za nochʹ s pamiatʹiu sluchilosʹ?” (“What Happened Overnight to Memory?”), “K Rossii” (“To Russia”), “Probuzhdenie” (“The Awakening”), “Rasstrel” (“The Execution”), “Smertʹ” (“Death”), “Snovidenʹe” (“A Vision in a Dream”), and “Vesna” (“Spring”). The poetry section also contains examples of Nabokov's translations of poems written by others, including two in French, “Le bateau ivre” by Arthur Rimbaud and the anonymous “La bonne Lorraine” translated as “Pʹianyi korablʹ”and “La bonne Lorraine,” respectively. One in Russian, “Obezʹiana” by V. F. Khodasevich, was translated into English as “The Monkey.” Short stories and novellas represented in the series include “The Double Monster,” “Govoriat po russki” (“They Speak Russian”), “Mademoiselle O,” “Ozero, obkalo, bashnia” (Cloud, Castle, Lake”), “Pilʹgram” (“The Aurelian”), “Podlets” (“An Affair of Honor”), and “Tiazhelyi dym” (“Torpid Smoke”).

Miscellaneous items in the Writings series include short works such as book reviews, classroom teaching material, and essays. Many of the poems and short stories in the collection are signed “V. Sirin,” a pseudonym frequently used by Nabokov in Berlin and Paris during the 1920s and 1930s.

Scattered throughout the collection are notes and drafts written on 4" x 6" cards. Files documenting the writings Pale Fire, Lolita: A Screenplay, and “The Vane Sisters” consist entirely of these cards.

The Miscellany series includes a transcript of a radio interview with Nabokov. The 2003 addition to the collection contains letters from Nabokov to Princess Zinaïda Schakovskoy and Gleb Struve. The 2024 Addition contains correspondence, a manuscript fragment titled "Lepidoptera Papers," an interview with journalist and novelist Philip Oakes, and documents relating to the motion picture rights for Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle with Columbia Pictures. Oversize material consists of Nabokov's diploma from the University of Cambridge and passports and related material removed from the Miscellany series.