Mabel Katharine Day (5 December 1875 – 18 September 1964) was a British scholar of medieval English. She managed the

Early English Text Society The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...

from 1921 to the 1940s as assistant director. She edited and published medieval texts including contributions to '' A Guide for Anchoresses'' and ''

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English alliterative verse. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot comb ...

''.

Life

Day was born in the listed building of St Leonard's House in Linney,

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

, Shropshire, in 1875. Her parents were Annie (born Metcalfe) and Reverend Henry George Day. Her father had been a fellow of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

before he became the headteacher of Sedbergh grammar school. Ancrene-Wisse-cotton ms cleopatra c vi f004r

Day was educated at Brighton High School for Girls,

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, and thereafter worked as a teacher and lecturer. In 1912 she began work at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and in 1920 was promoted to lecturer. In 1921 she became the assistant director of the

(EETS), and the

awarded her a doctorate for her thesis titled ''Early Middle English word-stress investigated on the basis of the unrhymed alliterative poems''. She is remembered for her work with the EETS and with Sir

Israel Gollancz Sir Israel Gollancz, FBA (13 July 1863 – 23 June 1930) was a scholar of early English literature and of Shakespeare. He was Professor of English Language and Literature at King's College, London, from 1903 to 1930. Life and career Gollancz wa ...

, its director. In 1935 the EETS decided to publish editions of the ''

Ancrene Wisse ''Ancrene Wisse'' (; also known as the ''Ancrene Riwle'' or ''Guide for Anchoresses'') is an anonymous monastic rule (or manual) for anchoresses written in the early 13th century. The work consists of eight parts: divine service, keeping the ...

'', an early 13th-century text also known as ''A Guide for Anchoresses''. Day advised on several editions and she worked on the Nero MS version (which had been transcribed by J. A. Herbert). The principles which she established are said to have governed all the later editions. Gollancz had been working on an edition of ''

'', but this was unfinished when he died in 1930. Day completed the work and it was published in 1940. Another of Gollancz's works, ''

Mum and the Sothsegger ''Mum and the Sothsegger'' is an anonymous fifteenth century alliterative English poem, written during the " Alliterative Revival." It is ostensibly an example of medieval debate poetry between the principles of the oppressive figure of ''Mum'' (" ...

'', was also completed by Day and Robert Steele and published in 1936. Day was the person who kept the EETS running and financially viable. Even after she stood down in 1949 she stayed on as an advisor for another decade. Day died in

Batheaston Batheaston is a village and civil parish east of the English city of Bath, on the north bank of the River Avon. The parish had a population of 2,735 in 2011. The northern area of the parish, on the road to St Catherine, is an area known as ...

, Somerset, in 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Mabel 1875 births 1964 deaths Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of London Anglo-Saxon studies scholars People from Ludlow