Edward Arber (original) (raw)

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19th/20th-century English scholar and writer

Edward Arber (4 December 1836 – 23 November 1912[1]) was an English scholar, writer, and editor.

Mason College, now Birmingham University

Background and professional work

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Arber was born in London. From 1854 he 1878 he worked as a clerk in the Admiralty, and began evening classes at King's College London in 1858. In 1870 his address was No. 5 Queen Square, in Bloomsbury.[2]

From 1878 to 1881 he studied English literature, under Henry Morley, at University College London; and from 1881 to 1894 he was professor of English at Mason College (which later became Birmingham University). From 1894 he lived in London as emeritus professor, being also a fellow of King's College London. In 1905 he received the honorary degree of D. Litt. from the University of Oxford. He married Marion Murray in 1869, and had two sons, one of whom, E. A. N. Arber, became demonstrator in palaeobotany at the University of Cambridge.[3][2]

As a scholarly editor, Arber made notable contributions to English literature. His name is associated particularly with the English Reprints series (1868–1871), by which an accurate text of the works of many English authors, formerly only accessible in more expensive editions, was placed within reach of the general public. Among the thirty volumes of the series were Stephen Gosson's School of Abuse, Roger Ascham's Toxophilus, Tottel's Miscellany, and Robert Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia. It was followed by the "English Scholar's Library" (16 volumes) which included the Works (1884) of Captain John Smith, governor of Virginia, and the Poems (1882) of Richard Barnfield.[3]

Anthologies and bibliographies

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In his eight volume English Garner (1877–1890) Arber collected rare old tracts and poems, "ingatherings from our history and literature". Between 1899 and 1901 he issued the ten volume British Anthologies set:

• 1. The Dunbar Anthology
• 1. The Surrey and Wyatt Anthology
• 1. The Spenser Anthology[4]
• 1. The Shakespeare Anthology
• 1. The Jonson Anthology
• 1. The Milton Anthology
• 1. The Dryden Anthology
• 1. The Pope Anthology
• 1. The Goldsmith Anthology
• 1. The Cowper Anthology

During and after the first World War, T.S. Eliot used to recommend The Shakespeare Anthology for students of his University Extension classes on Elizabethan Literature in London.[5] In 1907 Arber began a series called A Christian Library. He was the sole editor of two vast English bibliographies: A Transcript of the Registers of the Stationers' Company, 1553–1640 (1875–1894), and The Term Catalogues, 1668–1709/11.[3][6]

1. ^ Who's Who 1914
2. ^ a b The Papers of Edward Alexander Newell Arber, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
3. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
4. ^ The Spenser Anthology (1899), Internet Archive
5. ^ Clare Bucknell. The Treasuries: Poetry Anthologies and the Making of British Culture (2023), p. 7
6. ^ The Term Catalogues, 1668–1709, With a Number for Easter Term, 1711 A.D. A Contemporary Bibliography of English Literature in the Reigns of Charles II, James II, William and Mary, and Anne, ed. Edward Arber, vols 1–3. London: Edward Arber, 1903/ 1905/ 1906.

Attribution:

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Arber, Edward". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 323.

English Wikisource has original works by or about:

• Media related to Edward Arber at Wikimedia Commons
• Works by Edward Arber at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Edward Arber at the Internet Archive
• The Term Catalogues, 1668–1709, With a Number for Easter Term, 1711 A.D. A Contemporary Bibliography of English Literature in the Reigns of Charles II, James II, William and Mary, and Anne. Ed. by Edward Arber, vols. 1–3. London: 1903/ 1905/ 1906. Scan of volume 1, 1668–1682.