The collection consists of manuscript drafts and corrected typescripts as well as galley and page proofs for works by Jean Genet, 1952-1982, including Le Bagne, Le Balcon, Les Nègres, and Le Langage de la muraille: cent ans jour après jour. It also contains manuscripts with sketches by the author and artworks on paper by others, including two hand-colored lithographs by Alberto Giacometti, created as a cover illustration for Le Balcon.
Material related to Le Bagne consists of a completed film screenplay, approximately 1952-1954, and fragments of a play script, between 1958 and 1963.
Material related to Le Balcon contains drafts, autograph manuscripts, typescripts, and corrected proofs, 1955-1956, for the first edition of Le Balcon published in 1956 by L’Arbalète and Marc Barbezat.
Material related to Les Nègres includes multiple drafts, an unpublished preface to the play, and galley proofs, 1955-1957.
Material related to Le Langage de la muraille: cent ans jour après jour includes preparatory documents, and manuscript and typescript drafts for the screenplay, approximately 1981-1982, bound in three volumes.