Rauner Special Collections Finding Aids

Biographical Information

Introduction

The Papers of Jack Bales were a gift received by the Dartmouth College Library from Mr. Bales during the years 1990-1993. Jack Bales' primary field of research since 1986 had been the life and work of historical novelist Kenneth Roberts (1885-1957), and he had used the Dartmouth College Library's large Kenneth Roberts collectionSee Dartmouth College Library Bulletin, April 1990; “At the Nadir of My Discouragement:” The Story of Dartmouth's Kenneth Roberts Collection, by Jack Balesmany times. With the gift of his Kenneth Roberts research papers and manuscripts, the Library's already extensive holdings on Roberts were greatly enriched.

James E. “Jack” Bales was born November 1, 1951 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned his B.A. degree at Illinois College in 1973, and received his M.S. in Library Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1974. He worked as Assistant Librarian at Eureka College Library in Eureka, Illinois from 1974-1976, and as Public Services Librarian at Illinois College Library, Jacksonville, from 1976-1980, when he became Reference Librarian at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a position which, at this writing, he still holds. In addition to his work on Kenneth Roberts, Bales has co-authored two books about Horatio Alger, Jr., and contributes to scholarly publications and magazines.

Jack Bales became interested in the works of Kenneth Roberts as a teenager, after reading his father's copy of Northwest Passage. In 1986 he began work on an annotated bibliography of criticism on Roberts. The following year he received a grant from Mary Washington College, allowing him to travel to Dartmouth College, Phillips Exeter Academy, Colby College and Kennebunkport, Maine to complete his research. Realizing that little personal information about Roberts had ever been published, Bales added a long biographical essay to his bibliography, and in 1989, Kenneth Roberts: The Man and His Works, was published.Bales then turned his attention to writing a full -length biography of Roberts. Again using the New England repositories of Roberts material, as well as little-known Library of Congress resources and interviews with people who had known the novelist, Bales published, in 1993, what may be the definitive study of Kenneth Roberts.

The Jack Bales collection occupies 3 boxes, or approximately 3.75 feet of linear shelf space. The materials consist of book manuscripts, correspondence, clippings, photographs, articles, pamphlets, papers, research materials, excerpts from bibliographies, theses, an index card file, and many other interesting items. Bales' correspondence with librarians, other researchers, people who knew Kenneth Roberts, and certain of Roberts' relatives, is perhaps the most interesting part of the collection, closely followed by the research materials Bales collected.

No restrictions have been placed on the use of any of the materials in the collection. Further information concerning both Jack Bales and Kenneth Roberts may be found in Special Collections in the Dartmouth College Library.

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Biographical Information

Introduction

Addendum to the Papers of Jack Bales in the Dartmouth College Library

November 1995

The Addendum to the Papers of Jack Bales came to the Dartmouth College Library in 1995 as the gift of Mr. Bales. Together with the Kenneth Roberts Papers, and the original 1990-1993 gift of Jack Bales' papers, the addendum will provide the Library with an important resource for scholars interested in historical novelist Roberts.

Jack Bales, born in 1951 in Milwaukee, and educated at Illinois College and the University of Illinois, became interested in Kenneth Roberts after reading Northwest Passage at the age of 15. Reference Librarian at Mary Washington College Library in Fredericksburg, Virginia since 1980, Bales had co-authored two books about Horatio Alger, Jr., when in 1986 he began research for an annotated bibliography of criticism about Kenneth Roberts. The result, Kenneth Roberts: The Man and His Works, was published in 1989. Bales then turned his attention to writing the first full-length biography of the novelist; Kenneth Roberts was published in 1993.

The collection occupies 4 boxes, or approximately 5.0 linear feet of shelf space, and consists of articles, book reviews, clippings, correspondence, excerpts from reference books, pamphlets, newsletters, photocopies of pictures and documents held by other repositories, maps, notes and bibliographies, and many other materials. It is almost entirely a research collection; there is very little original material included. Many of the items focus on Roberts' well-known “grand passions” -- dowsing, Benedict Arnold, and immigration. There is also a fine selection of articles he wrote for The Saturday Evening Post. The best example of the patient research necessary to produce a comprehensive bibliography, however, are the book reviews Bales gathered, and which may be found under Bibliographic Research in this index.

No restrictions have been placed on the use of any of the materials in the collection. However, since many of the documents included in the collection are photocopies of items from other repositories, copyright law may preclude recopying.Readers should seek the advice of the Curator of Manuscripts before seeking to have copies made from documents stamped or imprinted with the name of another institution.

Further information concerning Jack Bales and Kenneth Roberts may be found in Special Collections in Webster Hall.

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