This collection consists of nine journals kept by William S. Burroughs circa November 14, 1996 – July 30, 1997; a painting notebook, which also contains journal entries dated January 30, 1996 –February 6, 1996; a journal transcription created by Jim McCrary during Burroughs’s lifetime, with Burroughs’s manuscript annotations; as well as drafts, transcriptions, photocopies and other materials associated with the production of Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs, a volume edited by James Grauerholz and published in 2000.

According to the acknowledgements by James Grauerholz in Last Words, Jim McCrary set about transcribing the Burroughs’s journals in late August 1997, following the author’s death earlier that month. McCrary (referred to by his initials, JOM, in the transcripts) had previously transcribed one of Burroughs’s journals during June of 1997, and Burroughs had reviewed and emended the transcription prior to his death. After a mourning period of nearly two years, James Grauerholz began reviewing and editing the journal transcriptions in the spring of 1999. The literary agent and editor Ira Silverberg also assisted Grauerholz in the editing process. In the acknowledgments, Grauerholz estimates that 5% of the text of the journals was omitted from the published volume for privacy reasons and for avoidance of repetition.

The first series contains materials created or reviewed by William S. Burroughs during his lifetime. It comprises ten bound journals kept by Burroughs, including a painting journal and nine manuscript journals. Topics covered include literature, politics, art, philosophy, personal reminiscences, and details of Burroughs's everyday life. Items found loose in the journals have been removed to separate folders in this series. These folders are organized according to the journal from which the items were removed. This series also includes a transcription of one of Burroughs’s journals generated in June of 1997 and annotated by Burroughs, in his hand, before his death. In listing the journals, the arrangement gives the first and last date noted in each journal; however, occasionally there are non-chronological entries that may fall outside of these date ranges.

The second series consists of materials assembled and produced by James Grauerholz and others in association with the publication of Burroughs’s journals. It includes photocopies and transcriptions of Burroughs’s manuscript journals, and draft materials for Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs (2000). Grauerholz was often traveling as he edited Last Words, so the photocopies of the journals assisted him in the editorial process. Some of the drafts contain manuscript emendations. Included in the series are a relatively small number of photocopies of journal entries by Burroughs (circa 1993 and undated) for which there is no original among the journals in the first series. Additional materials include notes regarding the transcription of Burroughs’s journals, a transcription draft titled “Swine, Swine,” and a draft of the “Last Words” piece for The New Yorker.