The papers consists of:
- Special Correspondence
- Correspondence and Memoranda arranged by subject: politics, 1885-95; the Colonial Office, 1895-1900; the Admiralty, 1900-5; High Commissioner for South Africa, 1905-10 and other South African correspondence; domestic politics, 1900-14; the War Cabinet and after, 1915-42; and ecclesiastical politics
- General Correspondence, 1883-1941
- Personal and family correspondence
- Printed Government Papers, 1899-1905; 1915-16
- Official Papers, arranged by subject: Admiralty papers, 1900-5; and Papers relating to South Africa, 1905-10
- Official Papers, chronologically arranged, relating to measures in which Lord Selborne was particularly interested
- Non-official printed material
- Miscellaneous
- Family Papers