Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie (May 9, 1907 – March 23, 1970) was an American scholar of

Anglo-Saxon literature Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work '' Cædmo ...

who taught English at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Early life

Dobbie was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City, in 1907.

Education and academic career

Dobbie studied at

, being awarded a bachelor's in 1927 and a first class

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in American Literature in 1929. He began teaching English in Long Island in the same year, but later returned to teach at Columbia in 1934. In 1937, he received his PhD from Columbia, and was promoted to the role of Instructor. He later became Assistant Professor in 1942, Associate Professor in 1945, and Professor in 1951. While studying and teaching, Dobbie began assisting

George Philip Krapp George Philip Krapp (1872–1934) was a scholar of the English language who was born in Cincinnati. He graduated from Wittenberg College in 1894 and received a PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1899. His doctoral thesis was on the Legend of the ...

on a six-volume edition entitled the ''

Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records (ASPR) is a six-volume edition intended at the time of its publication to encompass all known Old English poetry. Despite many subsequent editions of individual poems or collections, it has remained the standard refere ...

'', considered the standard edition of Old English poetry. The first three editions were mainly edited by Krapp (''The Junius Manuscript'' in 1931, and in 1932 ''The Vercelli Book'' and ''The Paris Psalter and Meters of Boethius''), but he soon passed away. This left Dobbie working on the final three editions, finishing Krapp's work on ''The Exeter Book'' in 1936, and editing alone ''The Ango-Saxon Minor Poems'' in 1942, and ''Beowulf and Judith'' in 1953. He also wrote articles for the first edition of the ''

Columbia Encyclopedia The ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and, in the last edition, sold by the Gale Group. First published in 1935, and continuing its relationship with Columbia University, the encyclope ...

'', including those on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

. Dobbie also served a long history with the journal ''

American Speech ''American Speech'' is a quarterly academic journal of the American Dialect Society, established in 1925 and currently published by Duke University Press. It focuses primarily on the English language used in the Western Hemisphere, but also publis ...

'', first working as assistant editor from 1939 until 1940. He was then promoted to associate editor for a year, before becoming managing editor from 1942 until 1947. During this period, he often argued with other editors over manuscript editing styles, but the journal ran smoothly enough. He was then associate editor for another three years, and a member of the editorial board from 1952 until 1965. As a

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

, he had (at least) a basic knowledge of various languages: Dobbie served on the Executive Committee of the Linguistic Circle of New York for several years, becoming Vice President from 1955 until 1957, then President from 1958 until 1960. He was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1948. He twice served as chairman of the executive committee for Columbia's Italian department, for a year in 1957 and again from 1960 until 1963. In 1966 he served as acting chairman for the English department.

Personal life

In 1937, Dobbie married Mary Lorraine Kout, an associate in Columbia's English department. She edited the second edition of the ''Columbia Encyclopedia''. They had at least one child, a son named William. Dobbie died at his home on March 23, 1970, after suffering from a brief illness.

Selected bibliography

Edited works

Books

Articles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbie, Elliott Van Kirk 1907 births 1970 deaths American medievalists Anglo-Saxon studies scholars 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni