Chiefly letters to Chalkley J. Hambleton, 1928-1956, together with a few poems, a photograph and other miscellany.

Chalkley J. Hambleton, a Harvard classmate and Chicagoan who was trustee of the Newberry Library, 1928-1956, preserved the letters and gave them to the Newberry Library in 1956. The bulk of the correspondence dates from 1904 to 1915, and includes descriptions of Ficke's youthful travels, experiences as a law student, literary comments and opinions, as well as reports of his social life and personal happenings. He discusses his Japanese print collecting and gives Hambleton advice on putting together his own collection.

There are also a few poems written into the letters, and four separate poems, plus a printed review, four small miscellaneous pieces of memorabilia, an obit newspaper clipping and a small photograph of the young Ficke. In his letters Ficke mentions his portraits being painted by Bror J.O. Nordfeldt, and there are two large photographs of those pictures in a portfolio.