About the Donor
Bennett was the inaugural President of the Friends of the Library in 1991-92 and he also served as President from 2004-06. Bennett is an Oberlin alumnus (OC '60) and is Yale University Librarian Emeritus.
Bennett began collecting after his 1967 dissertation on early 19th century British publishing history, a subject that commanded his interest through the mid 1980s. The collection was assembled piece by piece and primarily supported Bennett's research interests.
Of his collecting practice Bennett wrote: "I took my interest in publishing history with me when I moved from the English department to the library at the University of Illinois, but as I engaged more and more with librarianship I spent less time on publishing history." Bennett also published essays on Charles Knight and on 19th century periodicals during these years of narrowing engagement. Bennett also added "just before leaving New Haven, I gave my Victorian literature and related material to graduate students in English at Yale (inspired by the example of Maynard Mack). It took a few more years to untie emotionally from the publishing history books." The collection was donated to Oberlin College Library in 2009.