Robert Manuel Cook, (4 July 1909 – 10 August 2000) was a

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

classical archaeologist Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about ...

from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

with expertise in Greek painted vases. He was

Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology The Laurence Professorship of Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge was established in 1930 as one of the offices endowed by the bequest of Sir Perceval Maitland Laurence.University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, the author of several academic texts and was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # ...

in 1974, having been made a Fellow of the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...

in 1953.https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/368/115p195.pdf

Biography

Robert Cook was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

on 4 July 1909, the son of a clergyman and his wife, the Reverend Charles Robert and Mary Manuel Cook. After a period of home schooling and then boarding school, Cook was educated at

Marlborough College ( 1 Corinthians 3:6: God gives the increase) , established = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = Nicholas Holtam , head_label = Master , head = Louis ...

(1923-9) and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

, where he graduated with a double first in

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. He was awarded a Walston scholarship in 1932 and spent the next two years undertaking research in the

British School at Athens , image = Image-Bsa athens library.jpg , image_size = 300px , image_upright= , alt= , caption = The library of the BSA , latin_name= , motto= , founder = The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, called the foundation meeti ...

. In 1946, after pre-

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

lecturing positions at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

and wartime service in the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, Cook took up the position of

Laurence Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man fro ...

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in classical archaeology at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, which he held until his elevation in 1962 to the

Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

where he remained until his formal retirement in 1976. Cook published extensively during his career; his ''Greek Painted Pottery'', first published in 1960, with a third edition published in 1997, has been described as "an essential volume in any library on ancient Greece". Photographs attributed to Cook and annotated the British School Athens are held in the

Conway Library The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist c ...

whose archive, of primarily architectural images, is being digitised under the wider Courtauld Connects project. In 1938, Cook married Kathleen Porter (d.1979). The Cooks enjoyed travelling together and, in 1968, they published a joint work, ''Southern Greece: An Archaeological Guide.'' His younger brother was John Manuel Cook, also a noted scholar of antiquity. In retirement Cook acted as chairman of the

(1983-1987). He died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

on 10 August 2000 aged 91.Obituary in the Daily Telegraph 21 August 2000
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Publications

* ''Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum ... British Museum ... Descriptions of the ancient vases in the Department (Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. Great Britain. fasc. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13.)'' by Robert Manuel Cook, Edgar John Forsdyke, Frederick Norman Pryce, and Arthur Hamilton Smith ASIN: B0014KZ0KU * ''Ionia and Greece in the Eighth and Seventh Centuries B.C'' (1948) ASIN: B000WUDKT6 * ''Amasis mepoiesen'' (Journal of Hellenic Studies), Council of the Society (1949) ASIN: B0007KCI94 * ''Painted inscriptions on Chiot pottery'' (Annual of the British School at Athens, MacMillan (1952) ASIN: B0007KCI8U * ''A list of Clazomenian pottery'' (Annual of the British School at Athens, 1952 ASIN: B0007KC2S6 * British Museum (Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities) (Corpus vasorum antiquorum. Great Britain) Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum (1954) ASIN: B0007IZ7AS * ''Thucydides as archaeologist'' (Annual of the British School at Athens), MacMillan (1955) ASIN: B0007KCIB2 * ''Speculations on the origin of coinage'' Bell & Howell Co., Micro Photo Div (1958) ASIN: B0007HDDGE * ''Greek Painted Pottery (Handbooks of archaeology)'' (1960) Methuen (1960) ASIN: B001OAY67I * ''The Greeks till Alexander (Ancient peoples and places series)'' Thames & Hudson (1962) ASIN: B0000CLAQI * ''A hydria of the Campana group in Bonn'' (Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen), (1963) ASIN: B0007KC2SG * ''Niobe and her children'' (University of Cambridge Inaugural lectures), Cambridge U.P (1964) ASIN: B0000CM3UA * ''A corinthianising dinos in Cambridge'', " L'Erma " di Bretschneider (1965) ASIN: B0007KCIBC * ''Southern Greece: An Archaeological Guide. Attica, Delphi and the Peloponnese,'' Robert and Kathleen Cook, Faber & Faber (1968) ASIN: B000WULHMS * ''A note on the absolute chronology of the eighth centuries and seventh centuries B.C'' (Annual of the British School of Archaeology at Athens, (1969) ASIN: B0007KBOOY * Epoiesen' on Greek vases'' (Journal of Hellenic Studies), (1971) ASIN: B0007C95GQ * ''Greek Art: Its Development, Character and Influence'', Farrar Straus & Giroux (T) (1973) * ''Greek and Roman Pottery'' (with R.J. Charleston), Kodansha America, Inc (1979)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Robert Manuel 1909 births 2000 deaths People from Sheffield People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge English classical scholars Fellows of the British Academy Laurence Professors of Classical Archaeology Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Classical scholars of the University of Manchester