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His own personal history is of an interest almost comparable to that of his stories. He was educated at Cornell University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Cornell Widow, humorous magazine, for two years prior to his graduation in 1908. From 1909 to 1917 he was reporter, special writer and conductor of a hu- morous column and page for the Boston Post. On Valentine's day, 1911, he was married to Anna S. Mosser. He served briefly on the edi- torial staff of Puck and Life in New York before the world war took him abroad. He was a captain in the in- telligence section of the Siberian ex- peditionary force, in contact with French, English, Canadian, Czech, Russian and Japanese troops: with German and Austrian prisoners.
Roberts was one of the best known
of magazine correspondents when, in 1928, he voluntarily retired to the Italian "half-baked palace" to write his Chonicles of Arundel, a series of novels dealing with the revolution and the war of 1812. It is to this place that he again retires to collate and polish the material for his new book.
Roberts is known to spend years in
research for the work he produces. Herbert West, professor of literature at Dartmouth, has written:
"An American novelist, whose
merits as a historical writer of fiction have not been sufficiently under- stood, is Kenneth Roberts, of Maine. His Chronicles of Arundel, depicting the epic marching and fighting of the Northern army, are written with a gusto, and with a complete fidelity to historical fact down to the small- est detail, which to my knowledge no American historian or writer of his- torical fiction can equal. Mr Roberts travels to Algiers to verify one small fact. He covers the territory of his novels almost on hand and knees. He seeks almanacs to find the con- dition of the moon on a certain day 171 years ago. He ransacks the libraries of London, Oxford, Paris, Rome, New York, Washington, Han- over, N.H. and for all I know he has worked in Leningrad, the Kam- chatka Peninsula, Nome, and Bel- lows Falls, Vt. Why Americans are more interested in oil for the lamps of China, or the oft-repeated anec- dotes of Mr. Woolcott, or the be- wildering career of Anthony Adverse, rather than in the stirring tales of their own country's past, is more than I can understand."
AUTHOR AS CRITIC [Bold]
It is in dealing with the biographies
of Benedict Arnold that Roberts records some of his choicest mar- ginalia. Isaac Arnold's "Life of Arnold," published in 1879, he found the most satisfactory. The margins of the modern biographies of Arnold however, are full of pertinent ques- tions, corrections of mistakes, and shrewd profane comments. He finds the modern biographers cribbing worthless stuff from each other, stumbling into inexcusable errors,
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and attempting ridiculous flights of style. The marginal notes in these modern biographies include the fol- lowing: "Unfortunately true" ... "Beef from a Moose?" ..."Nuts" ..."Untrue"..."not correct." "Galleys didn't have bowsprits." ..."And what, Watson, is a broadside vessel?"..."Picture stolen from Anburey's Travels with- out credit."..."all wrong."... "What an ass! Split Rock is near the southern end of the lake."... "This book can be held up to all students of literature and history as an example of what not to do. The style is vile; the deductions worth- less; the facts distorted. It is a vicious book; an abomination; the nadir of biographical writing."
One significant part of Kenneth
Roberts' interpretation of Benedict Arnold's character in "Rabble in Arms" is the idea that Arnold really had a high motive for his treason namely a conviction that it was bet- ter to turn the colonies back to Eng- land than to leave them, through the incompetence of Congress, to fall into the hands of France. Anburey (a lieutenant in the army of Gen Burgoyne) in his "Travels Through the Interior Parts of America," for example, says of the colonies: "In the present day, if they attain their boasted end, it must be by the arm of some nation, to whom, for want of resources to defray the expenses of the alliance, she will be in con- tinual broils and disputes, which may perhaps finally terminate in atotal jubjection, and that abject slavery they so ridiculously pretend to dread from us." Roberts has annotated this passage: "This is Arnold's argu- ment, and his reason for turning against the congressional form of government of 1775-1786-- a terrible government. This reasoning of An- burey's is correct, and America wasa only saved by her accidental consti- tution."
SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH Another annotation in this history
comments on the description of Gen. St. Clair's retreat from Fort Ticon- deroga n July, 1777. This history reads, "As that the summer nights were at their shortest and the moon was full." Roberts has written in the margin. "He's a liar. St Clair's testimony was the same, but St Clair was a liar too. In July, 1777, there was a new moon on July 5, therefore it set around 7 to 8 P.M full moon was on July 20."
To prove his point, Mr. Roberts
has inserted at the page in the book a contemporary almanac, Rider's British Merlin. This is Roberts work- ing away at a small point, but a significant one in an understanding of Gen. St. Clair's testimony on how and why he gave up Fort Ticon- deroga without a fight. These annotated source books are proof of Kenneth Roberts' industry and good faith as a writer of historical novels. He has gone to original sources, has rejected poor work, has carefully
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collated the best accounts, and has thus gained a comprehensive grasp of theh period as a whole and of the life of the time.
The extraordinary amount of re-
vision which may be seen at the exhi- bits at Jordan Marsh's and at other book sellers' indicates the literary artist at work. This constant work- ing over of style goes on through a first, or author's typescript; and even into the gallery proofs and page proofs. It is not surprising, there- fore, to find that several Kenneth Roberts' novels have also been com- pletely revised since their first public- cation.
SCHEDULE OF WORKING DAYS A working chronology of Mr.
Roberts further displays some of his methods:
Nov. 7, 1931 -Finished Capt. Cau-
tion after endless labor and all night sessions.
Nov. 17 - Made a tentative outline
for the new novel, and discussed it with Booth Tarkington. Use new main characters, he said.
Nov. 22 - Discussed plot with Booth
and arrived at the decision about using two brothers, one a sea cap- tain; the other a spoiled and willful younger brother.
Nov 24 - Wrote the first two para-
graphs, calling the book temporarily The Splendid Rabble.
Dec 12 - Sailed for Italy. Dec 24,
arrived at Porto Santo Stafano.
Dec 26 - Resumed work on page
5. mss. book. Jan. 2, changed title to Rabble in Arms. 1932-Feb. 1: Quit on the book to write articles, our money having run out. Feb 24 - Resumed work on Rabble. mss. page 32: worked steadily till June 2, reaching mss. page 91. Sailed from Naples. July-August: Arundel. Sept. 19: Started reading the first 100,000 words of Rabble to Booth. Read and revised almost daily through Oct 15. Oct. 15-16: Laid out, with Booth's help, a tentative outline for the re- mainder of the book. The technical difficulties which the book presents will, I fear, never be understood by anyone but Booth and myself. Dec. 6- Sailed for Italy.