Kenneth Roberts in the Current News: Hodding Carter and Retracing Arnold’s March

Posted on September 19, 2018 by Danny

Kenneth Roberts’ first novel, Arundel, is the tale of Benedict Arnold’s ill-fated march to Quebec through the wilderness of Maine. Readers experience the pain and toil of the soldiers as they traverse boggy land, carry heavy bateau across rapids, and fight cold and hunger on their way to capture Quebec. It was an epic march; despite the loss of men and supplies, a remnant of Arnold’s army was able to meet up with General Montgomery to attack Quebec (though they failed in capturing the city).

If you recall, Kenneth Roberts’, through the narrator of Arundel, blames Reuben Colburn for the failed expedition. Colburn had built the bateau used to traverse the waters, but they ended up being more of a burden than a help. Like many other historians, Roberts blames Colburn for using green wood to build the boats, as well as using the wrong kind of boat needed for the expedition. Continue reading →

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Filed under: K.R. in Current Works | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Kenneth Roberts First-Edition Books

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Danny

For many book collectors, first-edition books are sought after with the passion and energy of a pirate searching for buried treasure. Almost any first-edition will do (particularly for those books that are extremely rare), but if the book’s binding is still tight, the hinges intact, and the original dust jacket (and slipcase if applicable) is present, then the find is just that much better. For the novice book collectors (like me), though, being able to know what particular first-editions look like (especially the true first-editions) can be difficult.

I’ve sought after Kenneth Roberts’ first-edition books for the longest time, but have only recently been able to actually purchase some of them. As I posted back in July, I was able to find a first-edition of March to Quebec as well as the limited, 2 volume edition of Oliver Wiswell (without slipcase). For my anniversary, I was able to find (and purchase!) three more first-edition Kenneth Roberts books that I’ve been unable to find up to this point. Now that my Kenneth Roberts collection has improved with the recent first-edition purchases, I figured that a new series on this website is in order. Hence, the first post on Kenneth Roberts First-Edition Books.

This series will be devoted to providing pictures of what particular first-editions look like (particularly the dust jacket) and what the copyright page looks like as well (not all “first-editions” are true first-editions). Jack Bales has provided two helpful articles written in the 1990s that are devoted to Roberts’ first-edition books; I will be referencing these articles to help supplement anything that I am able to find.

Lastly, I have also purchased Mark York‘s Patriot on the Kennebec: Major Reuben Colburn, Benedict Arnold and the March to Quebec, 1775. Mark is a frequent visitor and commenter on this site, and I look forward to reading this work.  I’ll be providing a review of this book in an upcoming post as well.

Filed under: K. R. First-Edition Books, March to Quebec, Oliver Wiswell | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

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