There are ten scrapbooks covering the years 1926 to 1941 which were put together by Imogen Holst. The scrapbooks contain autobiographical material of many types including letters, photographs, postcards of places visited, concert programmes (of events attended as well as performances by Imogen Holst as well as of her works), newspaper and magazine cuttings, and printed materials such as tickets and other ephemera. Imogen Holst pasted these items into volumes and wrote captions against many of them. She added futher information to the original captions in pencil in the early 1980s. These volumes form a detailed record of her life. They record her education, folk dancing acitivities, working life, concert going and giving, and travels at home and abroad.
Imogen Holst pasted envelopes into the volumes with the letters folded inside. In each case the envelope and letter have been allocated the same reference number. The letters have been removed from the envelopes, unfolded and stored in a file found with the volume. Letters from Gustav Holst to Imogen Holst from the scrapbooks have however been removed and filed together under ref no. HOL/2/8/2/104; the envelopes remain pasted into the volumes.
Imogen Holst collected the same types of materials for the years 1942 to 1984 storing the items in files and boxes rather than pasting them into volumes. From 1950 onwards the files contain a significant number of press cuttings.