The memoirs ""Once a Minister in Imperial Russia" discuss Ignatév's career in the Imperial government, especially in the Education Ministry, and more briefly the 1917 revolution, the Civil War, and Ignatév's tenure as president of the Russian Red Cross in the emigration.

The collection consists of manuscripts, memoirs and a printed item. Manuscripts consist of poems by Maĭborodov, including a typescript of a poema entitled "Bogdan Khmelńit︠s︡kiĭ." The memoirs primarily concern the years 1900-1938 and include Maĭborodov's reminiscences as a student at St. Petersburg University (1900-1904) and his reminiscences of his service as a zemstvo chief in the Volyni︠a︡n, Podoli︠a︡n, Bessarabian and Kherson provinces from 1904-1916. The printed item is an off-print (61 p.) of a memoir entitled "S frant︠s︡uzami," which was published in "Arkhiv Russkoĭ Revoli︠u︡tsii." In the collection it is part of the memoir "Vo vremi︠a︡ smuty (pri vremennom pravitelśtve) [1917-1920]."