This collection consists of 44 individual notebooks containing Bruce's research and class notes, including preliminary doctoral material; notes on German language; notes on English language and phonology (including origins); and notes on original literary works from Anglo-Saxon period through the 18th century.

This collection consists of three letters written from the years 1917-1918 by University of Tennessee professor of English, Dr. J. Douglas Bruce. All three letters are directed to Dr. Albert C. Baugh, a renowned English professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In the letters, Dr. Bruce discusses his work as well as Dr. Baugh's work in the field of English Literature.