Arundell Esdaile Explained
| Arundell Esdaile |
| Birth Name: | Arundell James Kennedy Esdaile |
| Birth Date: | 1880 |
| Death Date: | 22 June 1956 |
| Nationality: | British |
| Occupation: | Librarian |
|
| Known For: | Secretary to the British Museum, 1926-40 |
| Spouse: | Katharine Ada McDowall |
| Children: | 3 |
| Relations: | Ada Benson (mother-in-law) |
Arundell James Kennedy Esdaile (1880 – 22 June 1956) was a British librarian, and Secretary to the British Museum from 1926 to 1940.
Career
Secretary to the British Museum from 1926 to 1940,[1] [2] Esdaile was also president of the Library Association, and editor of its journal, the Library Association Record.[2] In addition, he edited The Year’s Work in Librarianship and Sussex Notes and Queries.[3]
In 1926, he delivered Cambridge University’s Sandars Lectures in Bibliography—one of the major British bibliographical lecture series—on the topic of "Elements of the bibliography of English literature, materials and methods".[4] The lectures were published in 1928 under the title The Sources of English Literature: A Bibliographical Guide for Students.
Esdaile was appointed a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire)[5] in 1952; over a decade earlier, in 1939, the University of Liverpool had conferred on him an honorary doctorate.[3]
Personal life
In 1907, he married the art historian Katharine Ada McDowall, and they had a daughter followed by two sons.[1]
Later life
Esdaile died on 22 June 1956.[5]
Selected publications
- Academic works
- Catalogue of the Fifty Manuscripts & Printed Books Bequeathed to the British Museum by Alfred H. Huth. London: British Museum, 1912.
- A List of English Tales and Prose Romances Printed before 1740. London: Bibliographical Society, 1912.
- A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers Who Were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to 1725. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Bibliographical Society, 1922.
- The Sources of English Literature: A Bibliographical Guide for Students. Sandars Lectures 1926. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928.
- The British Museum Library: A Short History and Survey. Library Association Series of Library Manuals, 9. London: G. Allen and Unwin, 1948.
- National Libraries of the World; Their History, Administration and Public Services. 2nd rev. edn. London: Library Association, 1957.
- Poetry
- The Inviolable Shade. Boyle, Son and Watchurst, 1912.
- Wise Men From the West and Other Poems. Andrew Dakers, 1949.
Notes and References
- Baker . Malcolm . Esdaile [née McDowall], Katharine Ada ]. 30 Nov 2017 . 10.1093/ref:odnb/33026 . 2004 . 978-0-19-861412-8 .
- Arundell Esdaile: A Centenary Tribute . James G. . Ollé . 1980 . Journal of Librarianship . 12 . 4 . 217–228 . 10.1177/096100068001200402. 143951911.
- E.A. . Savage . Arundell Esdaile, 1880–1956 . Library Review . 15 . 7 . 1956 . 474–477 . 10.1108/eb012262.
- Web site: List of Sandars Readers and lecture subjects . Cambridge University Library . 14 Oct 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211014085831/https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/sandars/list-sandars-readers-and-lecture-subjects . 14 Oct 2021.
- G.B. . 1956 . Arundell James Kennedy Esdaile, C.B.E., Litt.D. 1880–1956 . English: Journal of the English Association . 11 . 63 . 96 . 10.1093/english/11.63.96.
