These selected papers include letters and documents concerning the papers of Benjamin Franklin. A portion of these papers came to be owned by Stevens, but were eventually purchased by the U.S. government and are now at the Library of Congress. These materials were used by Whitfield J. Bell, Jr. in his article, "Henry Stevens, his Uncle Samuel, and the Franklin Papers," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 72 (Oct. 1957-Dec. 1960): 143-211.

These selected papers include correspondence concerning Franklin, Franklin's descendants, and Franklin's papers, extracts from Philadelphia newspapers on Franklin, papers used in Sparks' biography, miscellaneous entries in his diary (1830-1854) relating to his search for Franklin manuscripts, and his preparation of an edition of Franklin's writings. Correspondents include Henry Stevens, Jr.; Henry Stevens, Sr.; Benjamin Vaughan; Petty Vaughan; James Mease; H. D. Gilpin; J. Francis Fisher; Franklin Bache; and others.