Bassett Jones, The Grolier Club, and the 1932 Polar Exhibition: Two Thousand Items and Counting

• Main Author: Stam, David H.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: SURFACE at Syracuse University 2009
• Subjects: Grolier Club; Polar expeditions; Jones; Bassett; 1877-1960; Stefansson; Vilhjalmur; 1879-1962; Arts and Humanities; International Polar Year
• Online Access: https://surface.syr.edu/maxwell_other/8; https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=maxwell_other

David H. Stam delivered a talk at a special dinner of the Grolier Club on May 11, 2009 describing a 2005/2006 exhibition of polar literature and artifacts. The exhibition was planned as a harbinger of the Fourth International Polar Year which took place in 2007/2008. The exhibition included items from collector Bassett Jones. Jones was a consulting engineer who graduated from MIT in 1898 and became a a major collector of books, manuscripts, and ephemera dealing with the Polar Regions. He was a member of both the Grolier Club and the Explorers Club. The talk describes Bassett Jones' two exhibitions of his polar materials, the large one at the Grolier Club in early 1932 and a smaller one at the Architectural League in January 1941. Jones was a prickly, interesting character and the talk delves into his colorful life.