The great majority of the collection consists of correspondence between family members in the period 1820-1874. There are many letters by the following: Nikita Petrovich Panin, diplomat; his wife Sofii︠a︡ Vladimirovna; their sons, Aleksandr Nikitich and Viktor Nikitich, Minister of Justice in 1841-61; and Viktor's daughters Leonilla Komarovskai︠a︡ and Olǵa Levashova. There are also several brief essays by Nikita Panin. Items by non-family members include a photocopy of a letter by Mikhail Golit︠s︡uyn (1714), a letter by Sergeĭ Uvarov, and two letters by Moscow Metropolitan Filaret.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, subject files, and printed materials. The bulk of the correspondence consists of copies of reports and dispatches sent by Botkin to the Council of Ambassadors (in Paris) in 1919-1935. Also included are many letters to Botkin by Baron V. Osten-Saken, and Botkin's letterbooks for 1930-1934. Manuscripts include Botkin's memoirs. Extensive subject files concern Russian prisoners of war in World War I, the Civil War in the Baltic region, and the emigration in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Also included are miscellaneous materials relating to the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including consular correspondence, departmental circulars, passports, and texts of treaties. There is a letter signed by the painter Orest Kiprenskii, and letters and documents signed by such officials as Aleksandr Izvol'skii, V. N. Lamzdorf, Ivan Paskevich, Sergei Sazonov, and Sergei Uvarov. These items were collected by Botkin.