By Jacque Roethler, Manuscripts Processing Coordinator Librarian
We recently came across two autograph collections in our stacks from collectors named Charles Alrich and Peggy LeBold which we have combined into one collection. Each one was very sparsely described and their catalog entries did not tell the full story of the riches inside. One was collected by Charles Aldrich, who was active in archives in Iowa, helping to establish the Iowa Historical Department. A newspaperman, he founded the Hamilton Freeman paper in Webster City, Iowa. He also had an interest in ornithology and was a founding member of the American Ornithological Union. He broke his collection down into the following seven categories: Authors, Artists and Editors; Iowa Autographs; Reformers, Philanthropists, Educators, Clergymen, Scholars; Rossetti Collection; Scientists; Soldiers, Sailors, and Explorers; and Statesmen and Lawyers. The Rossetti collection is the collection of William Rossetti, editor and critic and brother and Christina and Gabriel Dante, and includes signatures from many of the people in the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
About Peggy LeBold less in known. She and her husband Foreman M. (Mike) lived in Chicago and were great collectors. Mike LeBold was president of the Morris Paper Mills. Their primary areas for collecting were presidents of the United States and Lincolniana. Before his death he distributed his collections among many institutions. This collection represents many disciplines and contains photographs of some of the signatories.
The image contains items from the Le Bold portion of the collection. Reading clockwise from the left are signatures for Arthur Conan Doyle, George Gershwin, Harry Houdini, Helen Keller, and Carrie Nation.
Find out more about this collection newly combined and described:
Autograph Collection: MsC1052 http://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/2685
