Robert Bernard Martin (1918–1999) was an American scholar and biographer, specializing in

Victorian literature Victorian era, Victorian literature is English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). In the Victorian era, the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transform ...

. Under the pseudonym Robert Bernard he also published a novel.

Life

Robert Bernard Martin was born on September 11, 1918, in

La Harpe, Illinois La Harpe is a town in Hancock County, Illinois, Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,175 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History During the 18th century, French explorers headed by Bernard de la Harpe we ...

, to Carl and Maggie Martin. He graduated from high school in Davenport and received his A.B. summa cum laude from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1943. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces in Italy and France. He was a professor of English at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

from 1951 to 1975, when he retired to Oxford. Martin published several books about the Victorian era, including biographies of

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame places him among the leading English poets. His Prosody (linguistics), prosody – notably his concept of sprung ...

and Edward Fitzgerald. His life of Tennyson won the

James Tait Black Award The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

and the

Duff Cooper Prize The Duff Cooper Prize (currently known as the Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize) is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of history, biography, political science or occasionally poetry, published in English or French. The prize was estab ...

. In addition to his scholarly works, Martin also authored one clever and humorous mystery entitled ''Deadly Meeting''. Presumably to avoid confusing his academic readers, he published this under the name of Robert Bernard. ''Deadly Meeting'' centers on the ongoing difficulties of operating the English Department at small (imaginary) Wilton University in New England ultimately leading to the murder of one of the professors. Perhaps the most endearing character is the victim's visiting replacement, Dame Millicent Hetherege, a retired Oxford professor of medieval literature, particularly enamored of maximal salary and good scotch whisky who, of course, plays an essential part in the mystery's solution.

Works

* ''Charlotte Brontë's Novels: The Accents of Persuasion'' (1948) * ''The Dust of Combat: A Life of Charles Kingsley'' (1959) * ''Enter Rumour: Four Early Victorian Scandals'' (1962) * ''Victorian Poetry; Ten Major Poets: Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Meredith, D. G. Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, Swinburne, Hardy, Hopkins, Housman'' (1964) * ''Deadly Meeting'' (1970) by Robert Bernard * ''The Triumph of Wit: A Study of Victorian Comic Theory'' (1974) * ''Tennyson: The Unquiet Heart'' (1980) * ''With Friends Possessed: A Life of Edward FitzGerald'' (1985) * ''Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Very Private Life'' (1991)

References

1918 births 1999 deaths People from Hancock County, Illinois 20th-century American biographers Historians from Illinois United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II University of Iowa alumni Princeton University faculty {{US-bio-writer-stub