![Plate 13, Alfred Nutt portrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Plate_13%2C_Alfred_Nutt_portrait._Folk-Lore%2C_vol._21.png)
Alfred Trübner Nutt (22 November 1856 – 21 May 1910) was a British publisher who studied and wrote about folklore and
Celtic studies.
Biography
Nutt was born in London, the eldest son of publisher
David Nutt. His mother was the granddaughter of another well-known publisher,
William Miller. He was educated at the University College London School,
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
and at College de Vitry-le-François, in
Vitry-le-François
Vitry-le-François () is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France. It is located on the river Marne and is the western terminus of the Marne–Rhine Canal. Vitry-le-François station has rail connections to Paris, Reims, Strasbour ...
, northeast France. He spent three years serving a business apprenticeship in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris, before taking over his late father's business in 1878. Nutt founded ''The Folk-Lore Journal'' (now ''Folklore'').
He was elected president of the
Folklore Society in 1897.
Nutt was a friend and supporter of
Jessie Weston Jessie Weston may refer to:
*Jessie Weston (scholar) (1850–1928), English independent scholar, medievalist and folklorist
*Jessie Weston (writer)
Jessie Edith Weston (also known as Jessie Weston-Campbell, 1865 – 21 May 1939) was a New Zeala ...
, sharing her interest in
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
ic origins of the
Grail legend
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
, and publishing some of her books. He was also associated with
Whitley Stokes,
Eleanor Hull
Eleanor Henrietta Hull also known as Eibhlín Ní Choill (15 January 1860 – 13 January 1935) was a writer, journalist and scholar of Old Irish.
Life and family
Hull was born on 15 January 1860 in Manchester, England. Her father, Edward Hull, ...
and
Kuno Meyer and his work had a substantial influence on the scholarship of
Roger Sherman Loomis
Roger Sherman Loomis (1887–1966) was an American scholar and one of the foremost authorities on medieval and Arthurian literature. Loomis is perhaps best known for showing the roots of Arthurian legend, in particular the Holy Grail, in native Ce ...
. He was also instrumental to the establishment of the
Irish Texts Society and his firm published the early volumes of Society from 1899 to 1914.
Nutt produced numerous works of scholarship in his own right, including ''Studies on the legend of the
holy grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
, with special reference to the hypothesis of its Celtic origin'' and his collaboration with Meyer on ''
The Voyage of Bran
The Voyage of Bran ( sga, Immram Brain [], meaning "The Voyage of Bran [son of Febail]") is a medieval seventh- or eighth-century Irish language narrative.
Source
The date of composition has been assigned to the late 7th or early 8th century, ...
, Son of Febal, to the Land of the Living''.
[Dindsenchas., Scél Túan maic Cairill., Meyer, K. (189597)]
The voyage of Bran, son of Febal, to the land of the living: an old Irish saga
London: D. Nutt. He wrote studies of the ''
Mabinogion
The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...
'' and was working on an annotated edition of
Matthew Arnold's ''Study of Celtic Literature'' at the time of his death.
Nutt drowned in the
Seine
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributarie ...
on 21 May 1910 while attempting to rescue his invalid 17-year-old son who had been dragged into the river when his horse bolted.
His wife M. L. Nutt succeeded him as head of the firm.
Further reading
* Wood, J.
"Folklore studies at the Celtic dawn: the rôle of Alfred Nutt as publisher and scholar" in
''Folklore'' 110, 1999, pp. 3–12.
References
External links
*
*
Alfred Nutt at Findarticles.com* "
In Memoriam: Alfred T. Nutt", obituary by
Edward Clodd
Edward Clodd (1 July 1840 – 16 March 1930) was an English banker, writer and anthropologist. He had a great variety of literary and scientific friends, who periodically met at Whitsunday (a springtime holiday) gatherings at his home at Aldebur ...
, ''Folk-Lore'' Volume 21, 1910
*
1856 births
1910 deaths
Publishers (people) from London
English folklorists
British male writers
Arthurian scholars
Presidents of the Folklore Society
19th-century English businesspeople
Male non-fiction writers
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