The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, and printed materials. Correspondence includes 82 letters from Maksim Kovalevskiĭ to the mathematician Sofii︠a︡ Kovalevskai︠a︡; 69 letters from Petr Lavrov to Kovalevskiĭ; and letters to Kovalevskiĭ from Anton Chekhov (typed copies), Nikolaĭ Mikhaĭlovskiĭ, Pavel Mili︠u︡kov, Petr Struve, and Ivan Turgenev (typed copy). Manuscripts consist of Kovalevskiĭ's handwritten memoirs, with a typed copy and some printed excerpts. Documents consist of Kovalevskiĭ's diplomas from the University of Berlin (1873), the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences (1899), and the Deputazione Veneta di Storia Patria (1901).