John Collins Pope (December 4, 1904 – April 18, 1997) was an American scholar of

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

. He taught at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

English Department from 1928 to 1971, where he was William Lampson Professor Emeritus of English at the time of his death. He was described by fellow Old English specialist Fred C. Robinson as "the leading Old English scholar of his generation".

Life and career

Born in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Pope was educated at the

Taft School The Taft School is a private coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It enrolls approximately 600 students in grades 9–12. Overview History The school was founded in 1890 as Mr. Taft's School (renamed t ...

and

(BA 1925; PhD 1931). He then joined Yale's faculty, remaining there for his entire career. He produced editions of several Old English texts. He also proposed a scansion system for Old English in which rhythmic stress is assigned using musical patterns. Pope was elected a Corresponding

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 1968 and a Fellow of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until ) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the q ...

in 1972. He received the

Wilbur Cross Medal The Wilbur Cross Medal, or Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal for Alumni Achievement, is an award by the Yale University Graduate School Alumni Association to recognize "...distinguished achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic administration, and p ...

in 1972. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in his honour, ''Old English Studies in Honour of John C. Pope'', was published in 1974.

References

1904 births 1997 deaths Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Yale University alumni Yale University faculty American academics of English literature Anglo-Saxon studies scholars Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, John C