Philip Gaskell (6 January 1926 – 31 July 2001) was a British

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

and librarian.

Life

He was born on 6 January 1926 in

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

, London, the son of John Wellesley Gaskell, director of an engineering company, and his wife, Olive Elizabeth Baker, who was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

. He was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, and at Oundle School. In 1947, after army service, he went to

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, and studied English under Dadie Rylands. At Glasgow University, Gaskell worked from 1962 as keeper of the early books in the library, and master of Wolfson Hall. He then served as librarian and fellow of

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 ...

. He was at Trinity and the Wren Library from 1967 to retirement in 1986, initially a period of the Library's reconstruction. He held the Sandars Readership in Bibliography in 1978-1979. He lectured on Trinity College Library: The First 150 Years. Gaskell later taught as a visitor at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

during the period 1983–1988, while investigating the possible application of bibliographical techniques to film. His pupils included Donald Francis McKenzie, professor of English at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, then Oxford, and

James Mosley James Mosley (born 1935) is a retired librarian and historian whose work has specialised in the history of printing and letter design. The main part of Mosley's career has been 42 years as Librarian of the St Bride Printing Library in London, whe ...

, librarian of the St Bride printing library. Gaskell died at Mawgan-in-Meneage, Cornwall, on 31 July 2001.

Bibliographic Press

In 1953, Gaskell followed the suggestion made in 1913 by R. B. McKerrow and founded a bibliographic press in the basement of King's College, Cambridge. He named it the Water Lane Press and documented its first two years of activity in the Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society. This press fell into abeyance as Gaskell's interests were focussed elsewhere, until 1974 when he was able to re-establish bibliographical printing in the new Morison Room of the Cambridge University Library. Classes on historical printing techniques have been taught there every year since 1974.

Works

Gaskell's books included an updating and replacement of Ronald Brunlees McKerrow's ''Introduction to Bibliography''. According to ''The Guardian'' newspaper,

''his ''New Introduction To Bibliography'' (1972, latest revision 1985) was revolutionary in treating the object of bibliography as not just the text but all the processes that had gone into making it. It has become a classic, used all over the world.''

He was also noted for a pioneering bibliography of the 18th-century Birmingham printer, John Baskerville, published in 1959 (2nd edition 1973). It followed a 1951 bibliography of the poet William Mason. He also produced a bibliography of the Foulis press in 1964. Other works were: * ''Standard Written English: A Guide '' * ''Landmarks in English Literature '' * ''From Writer to Reader: Studies in Editorial Method '' * ''Landmarks in Classical Literature '' * ''Morvern Transformed'' (1968)

References

External links

Philip Gaskell

A NEW INTRODUCTION TO BIBLIOGRAPHY by Philip Gaskell on Oak Knoll
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaskell, Philip British writers 1926 births 2001 deaths California Institute of Technology faculty People educated at Oundle School 20th-century English historians Frankau family British bibliographers English librarians