Francis John Henry Jenkinson (20 August 1853 – 21 September 1923) was a librarian of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

1889–1923. He was succeeded by A. F. Scholfield.

Life

Jenkinson was born in the town of

Forres Forres (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the County of Moray, Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin, Moray, Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several ...

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

in Scotland. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, and matriculated in 1872 at

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 ...

, where in 1876 he gained a B.A. with a first class in the

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to '' Literae Humaniores'' at Oxford University. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previ ...

; he graduated M.A. in 1879. In 1878 he became a Fellow of Trinity fellow, lecturing in Classics between 1881 and 1889. Jenkinson married Marian Sydney Wetton in 1887. Whilst librarian at Cambridge, Jenkinson oversaw the acquisition of various collections, including

Lord Acton John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, Liberal politician, and writer. A strong advocate for individua ...

's library and material from the

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled the Cairo Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Judaism, Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra ...

h. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he began what is known as the War Reserve Collection, which includes unofficial and personal items and ephemera such as flyers, cards and journals as well as public school rolls of honour and weekly casualty lists. He made a public appeal for donations to the collection, following which donations were received from members of the armed forces, personal contacts, and members of the public. Jenkinson was the fourth president of the

Bibliographical Society Founded in 1892, The Bibliographical Society is the senior learned society in the UK dealing with the study of the book and its history. The Society promotes and encourages study and research in historical, analytical, descriptive and textual ...

, serving from 1900 to 1902. He received the honorary degree

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

(D.Litt.) from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in October 1902, in connection with the tercentenary of the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

. In 1908, he delivered the Sandars Lecture; published in ''The Library'' in 1926, his lecture examined “Books printed at Cologne by U. Zell”.

Death and legacy

After undergoing an operation, Jenkinson died on 23 September 1923. In 2023, the centenary of his death, a full-day symposium in his honour was held at

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...

. Entitled ‘The Care of Books Is a Difficult Business’, it featured scholarly papers on Jenkinson’s life, work, and connections, along with displays of Jenkinsoniana and of

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

’s portrait of Jenkinson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkinson, Francis Cambridge University Librarians 1853 births 1923 deaths Scottish librarians Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Scottish people of English descent Presidents of the Bibliographical Society Scottish bibliographers People from Forres People educated at Marlborough College