The Gissing mss., 1863-1958, consist of correspondence, financial records, writings, photographs, and miscellaneous materials by and about writer George Robert Gissing, 1857-1903. This collection documents his own emphasis on writing as a business and shows that, following his death, Gissing's family continued to regard his works in the same way.

Correspondence includes Gissing's earliest known letter, written to his father on July 21, 1863. It begins, "Mi der farter," and ends, "kind luv and kisis to yo mi der Further... Gog robut Gising." In addition to an extensive file of letters to his brother, Algernon, there are also several letters from Gissing to his sister, Ellen, and a few letters to his son, Walter. Gissing also wrote frequently to his two literary agents, William Morris Colles, 1855-1926, and later, James Brand Pinker, 1863-1922. Other correspondents in the collection include Arthur Henry Bullen, Edward Clodd, William Leonard Courtney, Alfred Charles Gissing, Frederic Harrison, Jerome Klapka Jerome, Otto Kyllman, William Maxse Meredith, Sir Algernon Marshall Stedman Methuen, and George Herbert Thring.

The later correspondence (1931-1958) provides information about the provenance of individual items in the collection and includes letters between collector Carl H. Pforzheimer and members of the Gissing family.

Gissing's financial records include statements from Colles' agency, called the Authors' Syndicate, 1893-1899; and Gissing's own literary accounts, 1899-1901.

Writings present include an autograph draft manuscript of An Author at Grass: The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft, the only known extant copy. Accompanying it is a 1903 edition of the book carrying penciled notations about variances with the manuscript. Other manuscripts in the collection include a few items of juvenalia, supporting the impression that Gissing chose early on to make writing his life's work. [See separate listing in Vertical File for Gissing's writings that are present in the collection.] In addition to the manuscripts by George Gissing, there is also a short biographical piece written by Gissing's son, Alfred Charles Gissing (1891-1975), titled "Frederic Harrison and George Gissing."

The collection includes two photographs of George Gissing, one being a formal studio portrait taken by Elliott & Fry and the other being a posed snapshot.

The last item in the collection is a scrapbook compiled by George Gissing, consisting of fragments or story ideas, clippings from various sources on topics of interest to him, and miscellaneous notes and lists he devised, all probably for use in creating characters or scenes in his fiction. [See Vertical File for a more complete description of the contents of the scrapbook.]