The collection consists of approximately 500 miscellaneous letters, most of which fall into one of the following categories: letters addressed to members of the Alexander family of Princeton, notably the Rev. James W. Alexander (1804-1859), the financier James W. Alexander (1839-1915), and the artist John W. Alexander (1856-1915), from a wide variety of mostly American clergymen, educators, and political and literary figures, and many French and American artists; a lot of 7 Confederate Civil War items addressed to Robert E. Lee from the field, with a note from Lee to Jefferson Davis; 50 unrelated signed, autograph letters of Italian artists, writers, composers, noblemen, patriots, and public officials from the 16th-19th centuries, including a letter of Giuseppe Mazzini in French.