Vladimir Feofilovich Zeeler (Владимир Феофилович Зеелер; 1874-1954) was a Russian lawyer, state official and political activist; the Interior Minister in the South Russian Government; a pivotal figure of the Russian emigration; and a journalist, editor, memoirist and philanthropist. The collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs of many prominent cultural figures in the Russian emigration. A sizable part of the collection also concerns the painter Il'ia Repin (1844-1930).

Correspondence and manuscripts of Zaĭt︠s︡ev. This collection covers from the 1920's into the 1960's. There is correspondence from many other emigre writers. The largest groups of cataloged letters are by Mark Aldanov (105 items), Ivan Bunin (161), Archimandrite Kiprian (104), Alekseĭ Remizov (48), and Nadezhda Teffi (101). There are also items by Boris Bugaev (Andreĭ Belyĭ), Vi︠a︡cheslav Ivanov, Vladislav Khodasevich, Sergeĭ Lifaŕ and Boris Pasternak. Zaĭt︠s︡ev's manuscripts in the collection include some of his major works, such as "Puteshestvie Gleba" "Dom v Passi" "Zhizn ́Turgeneva" and "Zhukovskiĭ". In addition, the collection has a book and a pamphlet, both inscribed by Zaĭt︠s︡ev.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, drawings, sheet-music and printed material of Teffi (Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaia, married name Buchinskaia; 1872-1952. Тэффи, Надежда Александровна Лохвицкая, в замужестве Бучинская), a Russian émigré writer.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, and printed materials of Surguchev. The papers almost exclusively concern Surguchev's life in emigration; he lived in France from the 1920s onward. Correspondents include Ivan Bunin, Nikolaĭ Evreĭnov, Aleksandr Kuprin, and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. There are manuscripts of plays, stories, and film scenarios by Surguchev in Russian, French, and English. Documents include literary contracts, and one contract signed by Sergeĭ Lifar ́concerning a film scenario by Surguchev and Ivan Lukash. There are photographs of Surguchev and of scenes from his plays, and a subject file on the Russian Chamber Theater (Kamernyĭ Teatr) in Prague, 1922-23. Among the printed materials are many clippings of pieces by Surguchev, and his play "Igra" and pamphlet "Bolśheviki v Stavropole."

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, organizational records, and accounts of the Soi︠u︡z Russkikh Pisateleĭ i Zhurnalistov v Parizhe (Union of Russian Writers and Journalists in Paris). The correspondence (ca. 1920-1951) primarily deals with organizational subsidies and events, and includes letters from such writers as Mark Aldanov, Ivan Bunin, Mikhail Fedorov, Mikhail Osorgin, Alekseĭ Remizov, Nadezhda Teffi, Marina T︠S︡vetaeva and Boris Zaĭt︠s︡ev (the president of the organization) among others. There are manuscripts by Vladimir Zeeler and Sofii︠a︡ Anichkova-Taube as well as photographs of several members of the organization. The financial records include receipts for subsidies and general financial statements covering the 1920-1950 period. The organizational records concern Union balls, publications, and other activities. There are also folders of miscellaneous notes and clippings.

The papers include correspondence, manuscripts, and printed materials. Correspondence consists of letters from a number of important cultural figures in the emigration, including: Ivan Bunin, Zinaida Guppius, Aleksandr Kuprin, Pavel Mili︠u︡kov, Alekseĭ Remizov, Nadezhda Teffi, and Alekseĭ Tolstoĭ; there are also one or two letters each from Konstantin Balḿont, Dmitriĭ Merezhkovskiĭ, Ili︠́a︡ Repin, Fedor Shali︠a︡pin, and Marina T︠S︡vetaeva. There are manuscripts of several works by Shpoli︠a︡nskiĭ, including his memoirs, "Poezd na tretém puti" (New York, 1954).

The papers of Il'ia Grigor'evich Savchenko (1889-1961). The collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, caricatures, and materials relating to a number of Russian émigré organizations. The materials relating to émigré organizations include correspondence, financial records, and mimeographed textbooks prepared by the professors of the Russkii iuridicheskii fakul'tet v Prage (Russian Juridical Institute in Prague), and correspondence and printed materials of the Soiuz ob"edinenii russkikh okonchivshikh vysshie uchebnye asvedeniia (OROVUZ; Union of Societies of Russians Who Have Graduated from Institutes of Higher Education), which Savchenko headed. In addition, there are materials relating to other émigré groups in Europe and the United States with which Savchenko was associated.

The collection contains RNK correspondence, documents, photographs, subject files, organizational records and printed materials. There are letters from Boris Bakhmeteff, Pavel and Petr Dolgorukov, Zinaida Gippius, Aleksandr Kutepov, Dmitrii Merezhovskii, Bernard Pares, Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, George Vernadsky, and Petr Vrangel. There is a short essay by Aleksandra Tolstaia about her father. The manuscripts relate to political, historical and sociological issues. Most of the subject files relate to emigre organizations other than the RNK, while those of the RNK are classified into files of financial records, bulletins, minutes and lists of names and addresses. Among the printed materials are brochures and pamphlets, clippings, newspapers, and books.

Petr Pilśkiĭ's manuscripts include articles which are primarily essays on individual Russian writers of the late 19th and early 20th century, such as Belyĭ, Belinskiĭ, Bunin, Chekhov, Saltykov-Shchedrin etc. These manuscripts, most likely prepared initially to serve as introductions to publications of single or collected works, are typed carbons, apparently copied considerably later. The manuscripts of E.S. Pilśkai︠a︡ are chiefly memoirs, including recollections about her studies at the Imperial Theater School (Imperatorskoe Teatralńoe Uchilishche) in St. Petersburg, theater life in Russia, her stay in Odessa and Kiev during 1918-1919 and about the Soviet takeover of Latvia in 1940. Included in the collection are several articles about Pilśkiĭ by his wife and by A. Kuprin and A. Amfiteatrov.

The papers, which primarily concern Shmelev, consist of correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and printed materials. The correspondence includes photocopies of letters from Petr Struve to Ivan Shmelev, and of letters from Shmelev to one Aleksandr Ivanovich. Manuscripts consist of Kutyrina's memoirs and essays about Shmelev; these draw heavily on correspondence of Shmelev, Ivan Bunin, Konstantin Balḿont, and Thomas Mann. Also included are Kutyrina's memoirs about the October 1917 Revolution in Moscow. Printed materials consist of books by Kutyrina's husband, the writer Ivan Novgorod-Severskiĭ.