The first series contains Cheever's correspondence files, as well as much of the material he collected concerning the Prairie Press and illustrator Rockwell Kent. The next section is comprised of research, typescript drafts, and copies of articles that Cheever published in a journal titled The Book Collector's Packet. His collection of bookplates, arranged by artist, makes up the third part of the papers. The final sequence contains the booklets that L.O. Cheever had published to send to his friends at Christmas. These include the drafts, correspondence, and all other manner of material relating to their writing, design.
Correspondence is found in three of the four series.
Mr. Cheever began giving his books and manuscripts to the University of Iowa Libraries in the early 1950s and continued to donate his materials for the next thirty years. Sketches in ink for L.O. Cheever's letterhead stationary. The Prairie Press, 1938-1956. The Iowan, vol. Typescript drafts, correspondence with Carroll Coleman, and published copy.