Series 1: Personal contains biographical material, address books, personal diaries, catalogs, estate papers, theater and concert programs, kitchen and garden diaries, and book lists from the Spelmans' library. Most importantly, there are 4 volumes of LLES's autobiography which she begun writing in 1927 and continued with to about 1931.

The entire collection of Spelman Papers is very much a reflection of LLES. Because of this, her candid and internalizing autobiographical writings (Box 1) are especially useful. Her telling of youthful episodes is often overshadowed by two contrasting themes - a malicious mother who almost destroyed her and husband Timothy who restored her. She devoted the first volume to her childhood years including genealogical information of the Everett, Pettingill, and Burnham Families. In the second volume, she writes more of her father's illness, her mother's "wickedness," her move to New York City, interest in the theater, and the beginnings of World War 1. In Volume III, she includes some history of TMS, their courtship and wedding, and mutual love of music and the theater. The last volume includes more of her life with TMS at various residences in New York City, their travels in Europe, and a few details of their later life at the Villa Razzolini. She allows that her chronology is often faulty, but there are enough details to provide a picture of Leolyn's complex personality. The autobiography ends abruptly with a brief mention of their stay in Egypt.

LLES's personal diaries span the years 1914-1960; volumes for some years are missing. Descriptions of friends often take on a pejorative tone, but there are details of concerts attended, books read, guests received, journeys taken, health problems, and comments on weather and her favored dogs. The diaries, with the exception of 1930, are not quite as introspective as the autobiography, and they add more details of the Spelmans' lives. She never fully resolved the angry perceptions of her childhood. On the occasion of her 39th wedding anniversary (July 7, 1954) she wrote of the "hate, cruelty and conflict" of her early life and the normality that was restored by Tim, described by her as "exquisite."

There are six diaries of TMS filed in Box 7, and these offer little personal insights. The entries are mostly concerned with accounts, bills paid, monies owed. The final items in the series are a collection of kitchen and garden diaries (1949-1971) recording menus and garden plans at the villa in Florence.