Frederick Samuel Boas, (24 July 1862 – 1 September 1957) was an English scholar of

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

drama.

Education

He was born on 24 July 1862, the eldest son of Hermann Boas of Belfast. His family was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He attended

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

as a scholar and went up to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, in 1881. During his time at Balliol his tutor was (later Professor) David George Ritchie. He held college Open and Jenkyns Scholarships and took a First in Classical Moderations in 1882, followed by a 1st in Literae Humaniores in 1885 and a 1st in Modern History and BA in 1886, which last he converted to MA in 1888.

Career

His subsequent career was: Oxford University Extension Lecturer 1887–1901; Professor of English Literature, Queen's College, Belfast, and Fellow of the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

1901–1905, Librarian 1903–1905; Clark Lecturer,

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, 1904; Inspector of English,

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

Education Department 1905–1927; First Honorary General Secretary of th
English Association
1906–1909 and later President; Honorary LLD,

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, 1909; President, Elizabethan Literature Society; Fellow and Professor of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

; Visiting Professor of English,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, 1934; Hon D. Litt., Belfast, 1935; broadcast talk 13 July 1939, on Benjamin Jowett, Master of Balliol; Shakespeare Lecture,

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 ...

, 1943; President, English Association, 1944; Vice-President, Royal Society of Literature, 1945. He was awarded the Royal Society of Literature Benson Medal in 1952 and an OBE in 1953. In 1952 he began an association with Beatrice White who joined him in creating the annual edition of "The Year's Work in English Studies" which is a bibliography published by the English Association. For four years she co-edited the annual work with him and for the next ten years she continued his project.

Private life

In 1892 he married Henrietta O'Brien, daughter of S. J. Owen, Reader in Indian History at the University of Oxford; they had one son. Frederick Boas died on 1 September 1957.''Dr. F. S. Boas.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

, London, 2 Sep 1957; p. 10; Issue 53935.

Works

*Shakespeare and His Predecessors (1896) *The Tempest (1897) editor *The Works of Thomas Kyd (1901) editor * Giles and Phineas Fletcher, Poetical Works (1908) two volumes, editor *Philaster or Love Lies A-Bleeding by

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather t ...

(1908) editor *The taming of the shrew (1908) editor *University Drama in the Tudor Age (1914) *Songs of Ulster and Balliol (1917) *Shakespeare and the Universities: And Other Studies in Elizabethan Drama (1923) *The Year's Work in English Studies (1928) co-editor, and annually 1930–1950 *Marlowe And His Circle: A Biographical Survey (1929) *Elizabethan and Other Essays by

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School and ...

(1929) editor *An Introduction to the Reading of Shakespeare (1930) *Six Plays by Contemporaries of Shakespeare (1932) editor *The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1932) editor *An Introduction to Tudor Drama (1933) *Five Pre-Shakespearean Comedies (1934) editor *The Diary of Thomas Crosfield (1935) editor *From Richardson To Pinero: Some Innovators and Idealists (1936) *Christopher Marlowe: A Biographical and Critical Study (1940) *American Scenes, Tudor To Georgian, In The Literary Mirror (1944) *Songs & Lyrics from the English Playbooks (1945) editor *An Introduction to Stuart Drama (1946) *Ovid and the Elizabethans (1947) *Songs and Lyrics from the English Masques and Light Operas (1949) editor *The Change of Crownes: A Tragi-Comedy by The Honourable Edward Howard (1949) editor *

Thomas Heywood Thomas Heywood (early 1570s – 16 August 1641) was an English playwright, actor, and author. His main contributions were to late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre. He is best known for his masterpiece ''A Woman Killed with Kindness'', a ...

(1950) *Queen Elizabeth in Drama and Related Studies (1950) *An Introduction to Eighteenth Century Drama 1700–1780 (1953) *Sir Philip Sidney, Representative Elizabethan; his life and writings (1955)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boas, Fred People educated at Clifton College 1862 births 1957 deaths English Jews Academics of Queen's University Belfast Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire