Arrangement
The collection was organized by Ruthven Deane. Series 1 is plates created predominantly by American artists, Series 2 is plates grouped together by subject or author, Series 3 is plates by individual owners and artists, institutional plates, and label plates, Series 4 is miscellaneous prints and artists' proofs. The first three series are described at the item level. The fourth series is described at the box or folder level. The container list retains primary box numbers assigned by Deane while grouping materials together. In 2007, the collection was housed in archival boxes, maintaining the original order, while occasionally splitting or combining the contents across two or more containers. Box 37 was consolidated into Box 38. Similarly, Box 33 was consolidated into Box 34.