This artificial collection was created by former USC librarians. It contains letters and related ephemeral material created by a wide variety of primarily American men and women of letters. Many of these are addressed to various University librarians--including Lloyd Arvidsen, Lewis Steig, Charlotte Brown and Christian Dick--and former USC President Rufus von KleinSmid. In addition to this set of letters, which make up the bulk of the collection and were seemingly saved for their autograph value, the collection also includes autograph letters gifted to the Libraries that are between significant American historical and literary figures and individuals of their acquaintance. The collection also contains letters separated from archival collections held by the USC Libraries--these collections are identified in the "Related Materials" note.