This collection is currently defined to hold any title where the main purpose is to document the publications of a Grand Rapids or Michigan author. The subject content has value, but by specifying a place, and collecting the publications together by author, the “opus” of works of a particular author is gathered, for longer research and preservation. The items included in the collection often duplicate those also in the circulating or non-circulating book collections of the library or the department.

Book jackets, were available, are physically housed separately in acid free folders.

The holdings here are from non-collection specific accessions, as compared to the Gerald Elliott Michigan Authors Collection #304A, which is a collection of Michigan associated publications specifically collected by and associated with Gerald Elliott. It is also distinct from Coll. 142, the Michigan Authors Collection, which is a collection that contains biographical information about a specific group of Michigan authors, but without any of their actual publications included within that collection.