These papers consist of notes, manuscripts, galley and page proofs, and publications relating to author David Madden. The majority of the collection consists of manuscripts, galley proofs, and page proofs of various of Madden's works. The works most prominently represented are Madden's collection of short stories entitled The Shadow Knows (originally published by LSU Press in 1970) and two series that he edited: Classics of Civil War Fiction and Beyond the Battlefield. The collection also houses numerous cards containing notes that Madden made on other authors' works, manuscripts that other authors sent to Madden for critique, and one book entitled Pictures from an Institution.