Arthur Knowles Sabin (1879-1959), was a writer, poet and printer, best known for his development of the

Bethnal Green Museum Bethnal were a British rock band formed in 1972. In 1978, they released two albums on Vertigo Records: ''Dangerous Times'', produced by Kenny Laguna; and ''Crash Landing''; produced by Jon Astley and Phil Chapman, with special thanks to Pete Tow ...

, now the Museum of Childhood, in London.

Life

Arthur K Sabin was born in Rotherham in 1879, the son of a Sheffield steel worker. He was largely self-educated. He married Elizabeth Thompson in 1903. He moved to Cranleigh, in Surrey. Here he wrote several poems, and became involved in the Samurai Press, which had been set up in Norwich by Harold Browne and Harold Monro. The press had moved to Cranleigh in 1906. In 1909, he took up a post as Keeper at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

and bought a house at 14 Palmerston Road,

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mort ...

, where he established a printing press in a shed. He issued several books and pamphlets which are now collectors' items, under the imprint of the Temple Sheen Press. In 1922, he was appointed as curator of the Victoria and Albert's

, and left East Sheen. Noting how children were bored by the museum’s contents and layout, he began to collect toys and other childhood-related items. He was enthusiastically supported by Queen Mary, who donated some of her own childhood toys, and Mary Greg. He remained in this post until 1940. He died in 1959.

Literary output

*''Typhon and other Poems'' (1902) *''The Death of Icarus and Other Poems, together with a new translation in terza rima from the Purgatory of Dante (Canto XXVIII.)'' (1906) *''The Wayfarers'' (1907) *''The rustic choir and other poems'' (1908) *''Dante and Beatrice'' (1908) *''Medea and Circe, and other poems, with an introduction by Richard G. Moulton'' (1911) *''War Harvest 1914'' (1914) *''Christmas 1914'' (1914) *''New poems'' (1915) *''War posters issued by belligerent and neutral nations 1914-1919''(1920: with Martin Hardie) *''East London Poems and others'' (1931) Sabin was also responsible for several catalogues at the Victoria and Albert and Bethnal Green Museums.

References

British poets 1879 births 1959 deaths {{UK-bio-stub