William Arnold Autograph Collection

The William Arnold Autograph Collection is part of a larger collection of books and manuscripts dealing with American, and especially Rhode Island, history. The entire collection was donated to the Providence Public Library in 1923 by Mr. Frederick Augustus Arnold. The collection was named for William Arnold, an ancestor of Frederick A. Arnold. The collection is made up of more than 150 manuscripts, ranging from legal documents and business records to personal correspondence and portraits, spanning a period of 267 years.