The History of
Kennesaw’s Hidden Museum BY ANDREW J. BRAMLETT
While I usually write about the past, this month I wanted to share the history of something still present in Kennesaw today: the Bentley Rare Book Museum. Located on the Kennesaw State University campus, the museum features an incredibly large amount of history, just 10 minutes from downtown Kennesaw. Marietta lawyer Fred Bentley Sr.’s love of books began during his childhood, when Marietta librarian Tib Sibley showed him the wonders of reading. Years later, Bentley and his wife, Sara, began collecting unique and rare books. In the early 1980s, they donated rare volumes to what was then known as Kennesaw College. The Bentleys eventually gave more than 2,500 volumes to the school. The Bentley Rare Book Museum was born in 1986, after a conversation between Fred Bentley Sr., library Director Robert Williams and KSU President Betty Siegel. During this pivotal discussion at Siegel’s home, the trio decided to give these books a unique dedicated place at the school, to be called the Bentley Rare Book Gallery.
Fred Bentley Sr. and former Kennesaw State University President Betty Siegel. 18
AROUND KENNESAW | August 2022
A faculty lounge in the library’s basement was repurposed for the new gallery. It was based on the “gentleman’s libraries” found in the 18th and 19th centuries, and it was decorated using authentic materials and furnishings. The varnish recipe used for the wood paneling was from a 1772 cookbook, and it called for boiled ox hides. Unfortunately, when preparing the varnish inside the library, it smelled horrible, and three buildings had to be evacuated. Once the room was constructed and furnished, the gallery opened to the public on April 17, 1988. Over the next three decades, the Bentley Rare Book Gallery’s collection grew in size. Today, there are more than 10,000 books and manuscripts in the collection. In 2017, the gallery was renamed the Bentley Rare Book Museum. The Bentley is home to a wide variety of unique books, including first editions by Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. One of the gems in the collection is the “Fourth Folio” of William Shakespeare’s work. After the Bard’s death, several actors who had worked with him produced a compilation of his plays, today known as the “First Folio.” It was published in 1623 and was followed by three later editions. Part of the “Second Folio” and a complete copy of the “Fourth Folio” are in the Bentley collection. Another gem is an 1843 printing by William J. Stone of the Declaration of Independence. Since the original declaration, on display in Washington, D.C., has faded, Stone’s version commonly is used to create reproductions. Fundraising efforts are underway to conserve the “Fourth Folio,” the Declaration of Independence copy and an 1830 copy of the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper. Of course, being a rare book museum, many of the items in the collection are hard to find, except in similar institutions. For example, a 1542 compilation of Geoffrey Chaucer’s works, including “The Canterbury Tales,” can only be found in four other museums across the globe. An essential aspect of rare books is provenance, or who owned and used the text in the past. The best example in the Bentley is the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s copy of “Strength to Love.” The copy was owned by King’s mother, Alberta, and was signed by King. Likewise, a weighty tome of John Locke’s works, which now resides in the Bentley, was owned by Lord Cornwallis, whose surrender at Yorktown in 1781 ended the British war effort in the American Revolution.
