Sir Edward Maunde Thompson (4 May 1840 – 14 September 1929) was a British

palaeographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic discipline of historical writing systems. It encompasses the historicity of manuscripts and texts, subsuming deciphering and dati ...

and Principal Librarian and first director of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. He is noted for his handbook of Greek and Latin palaeography and for his study of

William Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 23 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 ...

handwriting in the manuscript of the play ''

Sir Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry V ...

''.

Biography

Thompson was born in Jamaica, where his father, Edward Thompson, was

Custos {{Wiktionary, custos ''Custos'' is the Latin word for guard. Titles * Custos rotulorum ("keeper of the rolls"), a civic post in parts of the United Kingdom and in Jamaica * Custos (Franciscans), a religious superior or official in the Franc ...

of Clarendon Parish. His mother was Eliza Hayhurst Poole, also of Clarendon. He was educated at

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

and matriculated at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

in 1859. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1867. Thompson was made Keeper of the Manuscripts at the

in 1878. He served as Director and Principal Librarian of the

from 1888 to 1909. Kenyon, Sir Frederic G., ''Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, 1840–1929.'' London: H. Milford, 1929. He set high standards for the staff of the museum, and worked hard to improve the accessibility of the collections to the public. He secured premises at

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

to house the museum's newspaper collection.

The photographic facsimile of

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

was issued under his supervision in 1879 and 1880. He was a founding member of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

in 1901, and served as its second President (1907–09). He retired from the British Museum in August 1909 due to ill health. In 1916, he published his palaeographic study of the three-page addition to the manuscript of ''Sir Thomas More,'' arguing that the three pages in "Hand D" were in Shakespeare's autograph. In 1923, he contributed to the definitive study ''Shakespeare's Hand in the Play of Sir Thomas More,'' with Alfred W. Pollard,

W. W. Greg Sir Walter Wilson Greg (9 July 1875 – 4 March 1959), known professionally as W. W. Greg, was one of the leading bibliographers and Shakespeare scholars of the 20th century. Family and education Greg was born at Wimbledon Common in 1875. His ...

John Dover Wilson John Dover Wilson (13 July 1881 – 15 January 1969) was a professor and scholar of Renaissance drama, focusing particularly on the work of William Shakespeare. Born at Mortlake (then in Surrey, now in Greater London), he attended Lancing Coll ...

, and R. W. Chambers. Maunde Thompson is buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

Awards

Maunde Thompson was knighted in 1895. He received honorary degrees from

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, St. Andrews and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Universities, and was an honorary fellow of University College, Oxford.

Legacy

At Maunde Thompson's request, the portrait of him painted in 1909 by

Edward John Poynter Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet (20 March 183626 July 1919) was an English painter, designer, and Drawing, draughtsman, who served as President of the Royal Academy. Life Poynter was the son of architect Ambrose Poynter. He was born in P ...

was transferred to the British Museum. The Acquisition Notes of 13 May 1917 stating: "You will remember that it was understood that my portrait was eventually to return to the Museum, to have the honour of hanging among those of greater men. I am giving up my house here – and shall be a wanderer for a time. It will not do to risk damage to the picture, and I should therefore propose to transfer it at once to your care if the Trustees approve."

Bibliography

* ''English illuminated manuscripts'' (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1895)
''Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography''
Oxford:

Clarendon 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 ...

, 1912. * ''Facsimiles of Ancient Manuscripts'', London:

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 ...

, 1913–30.
''Shakespeare's Handwriting: A Study''
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1916.

Family

In 1864, Thompson married Georgiana Susanna McKenzie, daughter of George McKenzie of Fairfield, from an old Scots-Jamaican family. They had one daughter and three sons.

References

External links

*
''Shakespeare's Handwriting: A Study by Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, G.C.B.''
Clarendon: Oxford UP, 1916.
Thompson's Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography at the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Edward Maunde 1840 births 1929 deaths People educated at Rugby School Alumni of University College, Oxford British literary critics Directors of the British Museum English people of Jamaican descent Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Presidents of the British Academy Fellows of the British Academy Burials at Brookwood Cemetery English palaeographers Linguists from Jamaica