MS 071 - Vincent Mercaldo Collection, 1850-1945 | McCracken Research Library

Vincent Mercaldo was a collector of Western imagery. He compiled a rich storehouse of photographs, prints and drawings depicting Western people and subjects. The collection consists of over 2,000 prints and negatives of American Indians, Western explorers, lawmen and outlaws, and Buffalo Bill and the Wild West show. Also included are engravings from the Union Pacific Railroad Surveys, 1853 – 1855, newsclippings, and articles.

The Vincent Mercaldo collection contains original and altered photographs, copy negatives, copy prints, and manuscript materials.  Subjects include individual people, groups, places, movie stills, and scenes from western life.  Manuscript materials include articles, clippings, illustrations, book excerpts, programs, and other ephemera.

Mercaldo, Vincent J.

Vincent Mercaldo was born in Marseille, Italy, in 1903.  In 1909 he and his mother immigrated to the United States of America to join his father in New York City, New York.  As a child, Mercaldo became enamored with Buffalo Bill and the legends of the American West.  He began to collect photographs, posters, letters, clippings; any materials that concerned the frontier, and its characters.  At age fourteen, Mercaldo went to work for a necktie manufacturer in Brooklyn, eventually becoming the head tie cutter and pattern maker for Brooks Brothers clothing company. Mercaldo remained passionate about his collection, and over his lifetime accumulated an assortment of original photographs, western ephemera, copy prints, and book excerpts. He often licensed use of his collection materials to researchers and publishers, and, over time, created copy negatives, altered photographs, and “improved” images.  Today, we would call this "Photoshopping" or "Digitally Enhancing" of images.