The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, books and periodicals. There are two letters from Aleksandr Glazunov and one each from Aleksandr Grechaninov and Nikolaĭ Metner. The manuscripts deal with both cultural affairs and the Russian Revolution. Among the cultural topics are essays on music, Isadora Duncan, Maksim Gorḱiĭ and literary affairs. There are articles about general aspects of the Revolution and about such individuals as Lenin, Stalin, Chicherin, Dzerzhinskiĭ and Kamenev. Many of the articles are memoiristic in nature, particularly those about life in Moscow and in the provinces during the Revolution, Dzerzhinskiĭ and Kamenev. There are clippings of articles written by Sabaneev and a number of books and periodicals either written by Sabaneev or containing articles by him.

Most of the collection dates from 1918-1940, and concerns the Civil War in Siberia and the emigration in China. There is a long manuscript by Golovachev on the Civil War. Other manuscripts include memoirs by F. Porotikov on Admiral Kolchak, and one by V. Russii︠a︡n, a former tsarist police official, attempting to prove that Stalin was a police agent. Photographs include an inscribed portrait of Lev Tolstoĭ. Subject files concern various Siberian and Far Eastern institutions and organizations, and deal with both the Civil War and the emigration. Printed materials include books, pamphlets, newspapers, and clippings, again mostly on Siberian or Far Eastern affairs, or on the law.