Collection of Material Related to Kenneth Roberts and the Publications of Northwest Passage and Oliver Wiswell

Folio and smaller. A small, eclectic collection of material that sheds fresh insight into both the author Kenneth Roberts and his popular 1937 historical novel, Northwest Passage. The two letters were each written to readers of Northwest Passage shortly after the novel's release. In the first, penned to Harry Hansen of the New York World Telegram on July 4, 1937, Roberts states that he was "again indebted to you for a kind, understanding and gratifggying review," and then continues with a discussion of Jonathan Carver's book, Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, which he had used in his research, noting, "I see you were scrutinizing a first" of the publication, adding, "If this is your copy, and you'd care to have it briefly annotated with some of the oddities I turned up about it while scratching gravel for Northwest Passage, send it on." Roberts further mentions that "The best edition is the 3rd London, with an engraving of Carver and considerable information that his biographers haven't taken the trouble to read." He closes with yet one more comment on the subject: "Carver was a hot sketch. What gave me the severest pain was his mention of Goddard as 'a gentleman who desired to accompany me.' That's about as if Leonard Nason should write his reminiscences of the Cate war, and speak of Pershing as 'a gentleman who desired to accompany me.'" The second letter is a response to a fan letter from Roy E. Harkinson of Chicago, in which Roberts thanks him for what he said about Northwest Passage, then kindly notes, "Unfortunately Langdon Towne was a fictitious character, and his celebrated book, Life Among the Dakotas, is not on the shelves. I suggest to you, as a substitute, George Catlin's North American Indians." Harkinson must have asked if he could send Roberts his edition for signing, as Roberts ends with, "To save ourselves the trouble of wrapping books and mailing them, I am sending you an autographed bookplate for your copy." Hawkinson appears to have written again in 1940, likely after the publication of Oliver Wiswell, as Roberts sent him a postcard illustrated with an image of Roberts' personal bookplate on December 11th that year, saying in a brief message, "Many thanks and all best wishes." Accompanying these letters are two printed publications related to both books: a reproduction of the July 4, 1937, New York Times Book Review, featuring a photograph of Roberts and a review Northwest Passage on the cover, and a November 25, 1940, issue of Time Magazine with an illustrative portrait of Roberts on the cover and a rather critical assessment of him and his work on the occasion of the release of Oliver Wiswell (pp. 91-98), the final line of which is a quote from Roberts: "All novels are historical, unless you just want to write about yourself." The collection also comprises: - a signed copy of his early 1938 autobiography, "Kenneth Roberts" An American Novelist" (Doubleday: 1938), additionally inscribed by him to Bill Coleman on the personal bookplate he affixed to the verso of the front wrapper; -a printed 1945 map of the Battles of Rogers Rangers between 1755 and 1758, with an autograph emendation in black ink; -a clipping from the July 14, 1928, issue of the Portland Evening News, of the article, "Noted Writer Declares Beauty of Highways in Southern Maine Lost," in which Roberts, speaking with reporter D. W. Hoegg, "Scores Prevalence of Billboards on Road Between Portland and Kittery; Severely Raps Auto Camps"; attached is an autograph note on State of Maine Publicity Bureau letterhead referencing the article, and a 1981 obituary of Roberts' niece Marjorie Ellis, who had served as his secretary for many years and wrote Good Maine Food, to which Roberts contributed an introduction and correspondence material he had received on favorite regional recipes over the years; -the catalog for the auction of Roberts' estate, held in Kennebunkport, Maine, on July 18, 19, and 20, 1967; -a photocopied June 1978 li.…