The collections stemming from and relating to the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum are described and grouped under various collection names. The Brander Matthews Papers, 1827-1967 (MS#0854) also includes a number of separately cataloged items, such as bound volumes of correspondence with Theodore Roosevelt The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum records, 1910-1971 (MS#0364) (this collection) are the business records of the Dramatic Museum itself. The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum collection of documents relating to actors and theatrical managers, 1732-1995 (MS#0365) is collection of letters, manuscripts, and documents of prominent actors, actresses, and theatrical managers. It consists largely of single, unrelated items. The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum collection of theatrical business records, 1864-1911 (MS#0363) includes box office receipts, salaries, stage properties, and expenses, for American and English theaters and two American booking agents. The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum Ephemera, 1750-1970 (MS#0366) contains a variety of formats dealing with the theater, chiefly American and English, in all its aspects including drama, opera, dance, movies, puppets, and spectacles. The majority of the material documents the 19th century and includes prints, photographs, pamphlets, clippings, playbills, and programs. This collection is divided into seven units: portrait file, subject file, program file, playbill file, scrapbooks, posters and lantern slides. The Dramatic Museum Realia, 1700-1966 (MS#0253) contains 391 puppets, 128 masks, and 30 stage models; Art and Theatrical Machinery are also part of this collection. The Speech Recordings records, 1925-1965 (MS#1182) contain sound recordings divided into four subunits--Speech Recordings Collection, Speech Laboratory Archives, Tape Recordings Collection, American Speech Recordings Collection. The Edward B. Wisely music tape recordings, 1875-1940 (MS#1364) Tape recordings of American, English, and Irish music hall and vaudeville stars. 1875-1940. 15 items. Individually cataloged books and codex manuscripts that form the Brander Matthews Dramatic Library

The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum Theatre and Costume print collection, 1787-1966 (Avery Library) contains primarily 19th-century published prints depicting British and French dramatic theatres, with a small representation of international theatres. Other materials from the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum at Columbia but not in the RBML are in the Office of Art Properties (art objects); Barnard's Minor Latham Theatre (stage and theater models); Barnard Library (phonograph records - 33 1/3 rpm); and the Music Library (music phonograph records).

Other RBML collections related by provenance include the Brander Matthews papers, Columbia University. Columbia Theatre Associates records, Daly's Theatre, N.Y. Records, Dirce St. Cyr papers, James Woodman Thompson papers, Roger Wheeler theatrical memorabilia, Katherine H. Parker papers, Peter Gilsey Collection of Theatrical Admission Tokens and Medalets, Charles Dickens papers, and the Joseph Urban Papers, 1893-1998.