Richard William Hunt (11 April 1908 – 13 November 1979)[1] was a scholar, grammarian, palaeographer, editor, and author of a number of books about medieval history. He began his career as a lecturer in palaeography at Liverpool University, and worked at Bush House during World War II. In 1945 he obtained the position of Keeper of the Western Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, and he relocated to Oxford, remaining in the position until 1975.[2] During his tenure as keeper he held a fellowship at his alma mater, Balliol College, Oxford.[3]

Richard William Hunt
Born11 April 1908
Died13 November 1979(1979-11-13) (aged 71)
Occupation(s)Medieval scholar and palaeographer
Spouse(s)
Edith Twamley
(m. 1939; died 1940)

Katharine Rowland
(m. 1942; died 1977)
Children3, including Tim
Academic background
EducationHaileybury and Imperial Service College
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Doctoral advisorMaurice Powicke
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Liverpool
Bodleian Library
Balliol College, Oxford
Doctoral studentsDavid d'Avray

On 11 December 1939 he married Edith Irene Joyce Twamley at Spondon. She died from complications of pregnancy on 7 December 1940. On 14 February 1942 Hunt remarried to Katharine (Kit) Eva Rowland (1913/14–1977), daughter of timber merchant Harry Rowland of Parkgate, Cheshire.[1] Three sons were born to them, including Tim Hunt.[4]

On Hunt's retirement from the Bodleian in 1975, he was honoured with an Oxford exhibition, The Survival of Ancient Literature, as well as a collection of essays.[5] His death in 1979 was marked by a second major exhibition, Manuscripts at Oxford.[6]

Bibliography

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  • List of Phillipps Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1957)
  • Studies in the Book Trade in Honour of Graham Pollard, ed. with I. G. Philip and R. J. Roberts (Oxford: Oxford Bibliographical Society, 1975)
  • The History of Grammar in the Middle Ages: Collected Papers, ed. G. L. Bursill-Hall (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1980)

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Vaisey, David (2004). "Hunt, Richard William (1908–1979), palaeographer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53058. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Southern, R. W. (1981). "Richard William Hunt, 1908–1979". Proceedings of the British Academy. 67: 371–397.
  3. ^ "Hunt, Richard William, (11 April 1908 - 13 Nov. 1979), Sub-Librarian and Keeper of Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library". Who Was Who. 1 December 2007.
  4. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001: Tim Hunt". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  5. ^ Alexander, J. J. G.; Gibson, M.T., eds. (1976). Medieval learning and literature: Essays presented to Richard William Hunt. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822402-0.
  6. ^ de la Mare, Albinia C.; Barker-Benfield, B. C., eds. (1980). Manuscripts at Oxford: an exhibition in memory of Richard William Hunt (1908–1979), keeper of western manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 1945–1975, on themes selected and described by some of his friends. Oxford: Bodleian Library. ISBN 978-0-900177-76-7.