Alexander Norman "Derry" Jeffares AM (/ˈdʒɛfəz/, 11 August 1920 – 1 June 2005) was an Irish literary scholar.

Early life and education

Jeffares was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, educated at Dublin High School,

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

(where he was elected a Scholar in classics in 1941), and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

Academic career

Jeffares took up his first academic appointment at the Department of English at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

in 1947 and then moved to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1948. In 1951, at the very early age of 30, he was appointed to the Jury Chair of English at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, where he stayed until taking up the Chair of English at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 1957. Finally, he moved to the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

in 1974. He retired as Emeritus Professor of English in 1985. A specialist interest throughout his career was the life and works of

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

, a subject upon which he was considered a leading authority. While at Leeds, he was a founder of '' The Journal of Commonwealth Literature'', and was also editor of the publication ''A Review of English Literature'', published by

Longmans Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is ...

. He was the founder of the

York Notes York Notes are a series of English literature study guides sold in the United Kingdom and in approximately 100 countries worldwide. They are sold as revision material for GCSE and A-level exams particularly as literary guides to introduce stu ...

series of revision guides, which are still widely used by

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

and

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

students.

Honours

In 1978, he was made an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin. On

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

1988, Jeffares was appointed an Honorary Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

, "for service to the study of Australian literature overseas". In 2013, an edition of the '' Yeats Annual'' was dedicated to him. Gould, Warwick, ed. ''The Living Stream: Essays in memory of A. Norman Jeffares''. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2013. http://books.openedition.org/obp/1698

Selected list of works

As author

* ''Trinity College Dublin: Thirty-Four Drawings and Descriptions'', Dublin: Alex, Thom & Co., 1944. * ''W. B. Yeats: Man and Poet'', London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1949. * ''The Scientific Background: A Prose Anthology'', London: Pitman, 1958. (with M. Bryn Davies) * ''Oliver Goldsmith'', London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1959. (The British Council, Writers and Their Work no. 107) * ''The Poetry of W. B. Yeats'', London: Edward Arnold, 1961. (Studies in English Literature no. 4) * ''George Moore'', London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1965. (The British Council, Writers and Their Work no. 180) * ''Congreve: Incognita and the Way of the World'', London: Edward Arnold, 1966. (Arnold's English Texts) * ''Swift'', London: Macmillan, 1968. (Modern Judgements series) * ''A Commentary on the Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats'', London: Macmillan, 1968. * ''The Circus Animals. Essays: Mainly Anglo-Irish'', London: Macmillan, 1970. * ''W. B. Yeats: Profiles in Literature'', London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971. (Profiles in Literature series) * ''A Commentary on the Collected Plays of W. B. Yeats'', London: Macmillan, 1975. (with A. S. Knowland) * ''Jonathan Swift'', London: Longman, 1976. (The British Council, Writers and Their Work no. 248) * ''Anglo-Irish Literature'', London: Macmillan, 1982. (Macmillan History of Literature) * ''W. B. Yeats. A New Biography'', London: Hutchinson, 1988. * ''A Pocket History of Irish Literature'', Dublin: O'Brien Press, 1997. * ''The Irish Literary Movement'', London: National Portrait Gallery, 1998. (Character Sketches series)

As editor

* ''Cowper: Selected Poems and Letters'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963. * ''In Excited Reverie: A Centenary Tribute to William Butler Yeats 1865-1939'', London: Macmillan, 1965. (with K. G. W. Cross) * ''Fair Liberty Was All His Cry: A Tercentenary Tribute to Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745'', London: Macmillan, 1967. * ''Scott's Mind and Art'', Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1969. (Essays Old and New series) * ''Restoration Comedy'', The Folio Press/Rowman & Littlefield, 1974. (in 4 volumes) * ''W. B. Yeats: The Critical Heritage'', London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977. (Critical Heritage series) * ''Yeats, Sligo and Ireland'', Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1980. (Irish Literary Studies no. 6) * ''Poems of W. B. Yeats. A New Selection'', London: Macmillan, 1984. * ''An Irish Childhood: An Anthology'', London: HarperCollins, 1987. (with

Antony Kamm Antony Kamm (2 March 1931 – 11 February 2011) was an English publisher, author, historian and cricketer. Biography Antony Kamm was born in Hampstead, London, the son of George Kamm, a founder director of Pan Books and his wife Josephine, ...

) * ''A Jewish Childhood'', London: Boxtree, 1988. (with Antony Kamm) * ''Yeats the European'', Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1989. (Princess Grace Irish Library series) * ''The Gonne-Yeats Letters 1893-1938: Always Your Friend'', London: Hutchinson, 1992. (with Anna MacBride White) * ''Jonathan Swift: The Selected Poems'', London: Kyle Cathie, 1992. * ''Collins Dictionary of Quotations'', London: HarperCollins, 1995. (with Martin Gray) * ''The Secret Rose: Love Poems by W. B. Yeats'', New York: Roberts Rinehart, 2001. * ''The Poems and Plays of Oliver St John Grogaty'', Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 2001. * ''Irish Literature: The Eighteenth Century. An Annotated Anthology'', Irish Academic Press, 2005. (with Peter Van De Kamp) * ''Irish Literature: The Nineteenth Century. An Annotated Anthology'', Irish Academic Press, 2005-2007. (in 3 volumes; with P. Van De Kamp)

References

External links

timesonline.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffares, A. Norman 1920 births 2005 deaths People from Dublin (city) People educated at The High School, Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Scholars of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Academic staff of the University of Groningen Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academic staff of the University of Adelaide Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of Stirling Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Honorary members of the Order of Australia Literary scholars W. B. Yeats scholars