My quest to learn more about my Uncle Manuel Rosenberg began in October 2016, on a rainy New York City morning. My plan was to take a quick peek at Uncle Manuel’s drawings at the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library—and then head off to lunch. What ended up happening was that I spent the next week, from the moment the library opened until it closed, immersed in and obsessed with his archived collection of sketches, newspaper clippings, and typed notes. More than 300 sketches and caricatures of leading personalities in public life and the arts included escape artist Harry Houdini; British Egyptologist Howard Carter, who discovered King Tut’s tomb; comedian Groucho Marx; pianist Liberace; and actress Debbie Reynolds, along with numerous other entertainers, sportsmen, politicians, and writers. These are some of Manuel's drawings of luminaries from history—some remembered and some forgotten—while on assignment for Cincinnati Post and Scripps-Howard syndicated newspapers in the 1920s.

From the beginning of his career, Manuel asked celebrities, politicians, performers—in fact, everyone he sketched—to sign the drawings he made of them. He wasn’t shy about it either. In a letter to his editor at Cartoons Magazine, he wrote: “Now I have 60 sketches of men and women of great prominence, autographed, and expect—or rather hope—I may be able to assemble them in a book with a bit of snappy text—about a hundred—and wake up some morning and find 'em listed in among the 6 best sellers (or cellars). I want to speak to you about this when I see you.” In another letter written in 1920 to O'Donnell he wrote, "My collection of autograph sketches has almost reached the century mark — with some great “sigs.” Will be in Chicago this month and see you about the book." Uncle Manuel collected over 20,000 "sigs" aka autographed sketches during his lifetime. Reported as the largest collection ever, he considered the signatures a kind of personal trophy that said: we met, you sat for me, and we had an intimate moment that was recorded for history.