This series contains correspondence written to Corso as well as letters and notes written by Corso to others. The material is arranged alphabetically by correspondent's last name, and then chronologically within each correspondent. Letters written by Corso that remain in the collection are generally items that were written but never posted, rather than carbons of outgoing correspondence.

This series contains a small number of photographs, professional portraits as well as snapshopts, of Corso and his friends and associates. There are also a small number of photographs in the correspondence series that were enclosures in letters and remain in their original context; this is noted in the finding aid.

The writings series, the largest in the collection, is primarily comprised of poetry, with some prose writing. The items in this series are listed individually by title, if supplied, or by the first line of the poem. Also included in this series are a number of notebooks containing poems, poetry fragments, notes, and sketches.

This series contains artwork, mostly sketches and drawings done by Corso, as well as a very few items created by others. There are some larger format items, including oil paintings done by Corso and a large oil portrait of the poet in this series as well. The Robert LaVigne Papers contain some sketches of LaVigne done by Corso, as well as portraits of Corso by LaVigne and Jack Kerouac.

The printed material series includes editions of Corso's printed work, including work published in literary journals or magazines as well as anthologies and books of Corso's poetry in translation. Additionally, the series contains several books, journals, and independent literary magazines from Corso's collection including a large number that originally belonged to the San Francisco poet Lenore Kandel. These literary magazines are of particular interest to the researcher studying San Francisco's underground poetry scene in the 1950s and 1960s.

The sound recordings series is comprised of 5 reels of audio tape containing readings by Corso as well as his associates such as Ezra Pound, Lenore Kandel, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, and Michael McClure. Digital access copies are available at the library.