Sir Edward Maunde Thompson (4 May 1840 – 14 September 1929) was a British palaeographer and Principal Librarian and first Director of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

. He is noted for his handbook of Greek and Latin palaeography and for his study of William Shakespeare's handwriting in the manuscript of the play '' Sir Thomas More''.

Biography

Thompson was born in Jamaica, where his father, Edward Thompson, was Custos of Clarendon Parish. His mother was Eliza Hayhurst Poole, also of Clarendon. He was educated at Rugby and at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. In 1864, he married Georgiana Susanna McKenzie from an old

Scots-Jamaican Scottish Jamaicans are Jamaicans of Scottish descent. Scottish Jamaicans include those of European and mixed African and Asian ancestry with Scottish ancestors and date back to the earliest period of post-Spanish, European colonisation. An early ...

family. They had one daughter and three sons. He served as Director and Principal Librarian of the

from 1888 to 1909. Kenyon, Sir Frederic G., ''Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, 1840–1929.'' London: H. Milford, 1929. He set high standards for the staff of the museum, and worked hard to improve the accessibility of the collections to the public.Borrie, Michael (23 September 2004)
"Thompson, Sir Edward Maunde (1840–1929)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Retrieved 7 November 2020. He secured premises at

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

to house the museum's newspaper collection. Edward Maunde Thompson Grave

The photographic facsimile of

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

was issued under his supervision in 1879 and 1880. He was a founding member of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

in 1901, and served as its second President (1907–09). He retired from the British Museum in August 1909 due to ill health. In 1916, he published his palaeographic study of the three-page addition to the manuscript of ''Sir Thomas More,'' arguing that the three pages in "Hand D" were in Shakespeare's autograph. In 1923, he contributed to the definitive study ''Shakespeare's Hand in the Play of Sir Thomas More,'' with Alfred W. Pollard, W. W. Greg,

John Dover Wilson John Dover Wilson CH (13 July 1881 – 15 January 1969) was a professor and scholar of Renaissance drama, focusing particularly on the work of William Shakespeare. Born at Mortlake (then in Surrey, now in Greater London), he attended Lancing ...

, and R. W. Chambers. Maunde Thompson is buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...

Awards

Maunde Thompson was knighted in 1895. He received honorary degrees from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, Durham,

St. Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Universities, and was an honorary fellow of University College, Oxford.

Legacy

At Maunde Thompson's request, a portrait of him painted in 1909 by Edward John Poynter, was transferred to the British Museum, the Acquisition Notes of 13 May 1917 stating: "You will remember that it was understood that my portrait was eventually to return to the Museum, to have the honour of hanging among those of greater men. I am giving up my house here – and shall be a wanderer for a time. It will not do to risk damage to the picture, and I should therefore propose to transfer it at once to your care if the Trustees approve."

Bibliography

* ''English illuminated manuscripts'' (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1895)
Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography''
Oxford:

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1912. * ''Facsimiles of Ancient Manuscripts'', London:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 1913–30.
''Shakespeare's Handwriting: A Study''
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1916.

References

External links

*
''Shakespeare's Handwriting: A Study by Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, G.C.B.''
Clarendon: Oxford UP, 1916.
Thompson's Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography at the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Edward Maunde 1840 births 1929 deaths People educated at Rugby School Alumni of University College, Oxford British literary critics Directors of the British Museum English people of Jamaican descent Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Presidents of the British Academy Fellows of the British Academy Burials at Brookwood Cemetery English palaeographers