Scope and Contents: This collection details the personal and professional life of Ford Lewis Battles (1915-1979), renowned scholar of Christian church history and of John Calvin, and contains extensive personal and professional correspondence, with such individuals as John Walchenbach, John McNeill, P. T. Furhmann, Robert Benedetto, and Fred Klooster. Also details Battles’ research and scholarship, presents examples of his teaching syllabi, lecture notes, and papers written by his students. As the leading scholar of John Calvin during the twentieth century, the collection provides insight into the historiography of Reformed Christianity. The material is particularly rich in detailing his various translation projects beginning in 1950.
There are some historical documents in this collection of unknown provenance including German administrative documents from 1727 and a diaries and letters from the late 19th century which belonged to the family of Samuel Hanna.