Frank Ernest Halliday (10 February 1903 – 26 March 1982) was an English academic, author and amateur painter. He wrote on a wide range of subjects, though he was best known for his books on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. F. E. Halliday (he preferred his initials for his books and public life) was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, and educated at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, where he earned his M.A. in 1928. Halliday taught English and history at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Hugget ...

, and served as head of the English Department there, from 1929 to 1948. After his retirement from teaching, he and his family moved to

St Ives, Cornwall St Ives ( kw, Porth Ia, meaning " St Ia's cove") is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially depend ...

, where Halliday pursued a second career as a professional author. He produced a modern edition of Richard Carew's ''The Survey of Cornwall'' in 1953. He wrote or edited more than 20 books in his lifetime, including a volume of poetry, ''Meditation at Bolerium'' (1963). His compendium ''A Shakespeare Companion'' was a basic reference work for a generation of readers. First published in 1950, the book went through a major revision and updating for a new edition in 1964, the quatercentenary of Shakespeare's birth. His 1936 portrait of

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. He married Nancibel Beth Gaunt in 1927; they had one child, a son, Michael.

Selected written works by F. E. Halliday

* ''Shakespeare and His Critics'' (1949) * ''The Enjoyment of Shakespeare'' (1952) * ''Shakespeare in his Age'' (1956) * ''The Cult of Shakespeare'' (1957) * ''A History of Cornwall'' (1959) * ''Indifferent Honest'' (an autobiography)(1960) * ''The Life of Shakespeare'' (1961) * ''Unfamiliar Shakespeare'' (1962) * ''England, a Concise History'' (1964) * ''The Poetry of Shakespeare's Plays'' (1964) * ''An Illustrated Cultural History of England'' (1967), revised up to 1981 * ''Chaucer and His World'' (1968) * ''Doctor Johnson and His World'' (1968) * ''Wordsworth and His World'' (1970) * ''Thomas Hardy: His Life and Work'' (1972) * ''The Excellency of the English Tongue'' (1975) * ''Robert Browning: His Life and Work'' (1975)

References

* Magill, Frank Northen, ed. ''Cyclopedia of World Authors.'' Pasadena, CA, Salem, 1974. * Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', 29 March 1982. 1903 births 1982 deaths British literary critics Historians of Cornwall Shakespearean scholars Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Schoolteachers from Gloucestershire 20th-century English historians 20th-century poets {{UK-nonfiction-writer-stub