The collection consists of manuscript notes and card files, printed material, writings drafts and offprints, and a small amount of correspondence and grant applications relating to White's research on Thomas Mann. Notes and card files mostly concern White's research on Dante's Divina commedia and Karl Vossler's work on Dante as source material for Mann's Der Zauberberg. Some notes concern Mann's Doktor Faustus or works of other German authors. Correspondence with Joseph Angell, founding curator of the Beinecke Library's Thomas Mann Collection, concerns their shared interest in Mann, the Beinecke Library's Mann Collection, and White's research and academic career.