While most of the firm's earliest files were weeded in the mid-1940s, some were saved because of their apparent historic value. A 1974 memorandum from Lilyan Brown to Joseph Lesser documents the destruction. She wrote, I arrived at AAK, Inc. in 1943. Jr. Additionally, folders removed from the General Correspondence files, probably for Alfred Knopf's perusal, were added to these early files. The Author Files are most complete for the 1920s and 1930s.
Most files contain correspondence with an author pertaining to a book published by the firm.
Besides fiction, the subseries documents Knopf's commitment to publishing historical, medical, and sociological texts. While most correspondents are represented by a single file, some long-term Knopf authors, such as James M. Cain, Joseph Hergesheimer, John Hersey, and Carl Van Vechten, have two or more. These multiple files reveal the personal relationship that often developed between an editor and author. Other correspondents of note in this subseries are not authors but scouts and agents who helped the firm locate new talent in England and Europe. Of particular interest are the files of the William Aspenwall Bradley Agency and the Raymond Postgate correspondence.