Scope and arrangement
The Charles Matlack Price letters are comprised of letters written by Price to his fiancée (later wife), Marguerite Meade Wurzburg between 1918 and 1923, and correspondence between Price and others (1917-1947).
Letters written while Price was living and working in New York City (1918-1919) were sent to Marguerite at her family home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many contain discussions of his loneliness and affection for Marguerite, job prospects, and potential employers, including magazine publisher Condé Nast. "I am living on minimum right now," he wrote on May 2, 1918, "but there are several things that will take a little money. Notably a new suit…if I were to work with someone like Nast where clothes are imperative." He wrote frequently about daily life in New York, his financial constraints, visits to friends, and his work. Some letters are illustrated with small sketches.
Price also wrote to Marguerite while serving at Camp Meade, Maryland, in 1919. These letters contain frequent mention of his dissatisfaction with army life and military bureaucracy, and his eagerness to be discharged. Letters resume between 1922 and1923, after their marriage, when Price returned to New York for work while Marguerite remained in Michigan.
Additionally, there is one folder of correspondence dating 1917 to 1947 between Price and other friends and family members.
Arrangement
Material is arranged chronologically and by correspondent.