Colin Henderson Roberts (8 June 1909 – 11 February 1990) was a classical scholar and publisher. He was Secretary to the Delegates of

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

between 1954 and 1974.

Biography

Roberts was born on 8 June 1909 in Queen Elizabeth Walk,

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His elder brother, Brian Richard Roberts, was later the editor of ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

''. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, where he read Classics, taking

Firsts First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

in both

Honour Moderations Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ...

and '' literae humaniores'' and was elected to the Craven University Fellowship. In 1934 he was elected a Junior Research Fellow at St John's, and remained a fellow there until 1976. Under the influence of his tutors, Roberts became interested in

papyrology Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

and in the history of the book in ancient times. He participated in the excavations at

Karanis Karanis (), located in what is now Kom Aushim, was an agricultural town in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt located in the northeast corner of the Faiyum Oasis. It was roughly 60 hectares in size and its peak population is estimated to be 4000 people, al ...

organized by the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and published some Biblical papyri in the collections of the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

. During World War II, he worked in intelligence in London and

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

. In 1948 he was elected Reader in Documentary Papyrology at Oxford. In 1954 Roberts succeeded A. L. P. Norrington as Secretary to the Delegates of

, holding the post until 1974. During his tenure he oversaw the publication of the ''

New English Bible The New English Bible (NEB) is an English translation of the Bible. The New Testament was published in 1961 and the Old Testament (with the Apocrypha) was published on 16 March 1970. In 1989, it was significantly revised and republished as the ...

''. In 1960 he held the

Sandars Readership in Bibliography The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is an annual lecture series given at Cambridge University. Instituted in 1895 at the behest of Samuel Sandars of Trinity College (1837–1894), who left a £2000 bequest to the University, the series has con ...

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lecturing on "The earliest manuscripts of the Church: style and significance."

Awards

He was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1973. Roberts was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters 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 t ...

in 1947, but resigned (along with his friend

T. C. Skeat Theodore Cressy Skeat (15 February 1907 – 25 June 2003) was a British academic and librarian at the British Museum, where he worked as Assistant Keeper (from 1931), Deputy Keeper (from 1948), and Keeper of Manuscripts and Egerton Librarian ( ...

) in 1979, in protest against its decision not to expel the Soviet spy

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University ...

from the fellowship.

Works

*''Manuscript, Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt'', C. H. Roberts, Hon. D. Litt., 1977. *''Birth of the Codex'', by Colin Henderson Roberts,

Theodore Cressy Skeat Theodore Cressy Skeat (15 February 1907 – 25 June 2003) was a British academic and librarian at the British Museum, where he worked as Assistant Keeper (from 1931), Deputy Keeper (from 1948), and Keeper of Manuscripts and Egerton Librarian ( ...

, 1954. *''Two Biblical Papyri in the John Rylands Library'', Manchester, 1936. *''The Antinoopolis Papyri ... Edited with translations and notes'',1950, by C. H. Robers, etc. With plates, by John Wintour Baldwin Barns, Colin Henderson Roberts *''Oxford Palaeographical Handbooks'', 1955. General editors: R. W. Hunt, C. H. Roberts, F. Wormald

References

1909 births 1990 deaths British biblical scholars British classical scholars Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British publishers (people) British papyrologists Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of St John's College, Oxford People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood 20th-century British businesspeople {{UK-academic-bio-stub