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Sir Frederic Madden KH (16 February 1801 – 8 March 1873) was an English palaeographer.


Biography

Born in
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...
, he was the son of William John Madden (1757–1833), a Captain in the
Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
of Irish origin, and his wife Sarah Carter (1759–1833). From his childhood he displayed a flair for linguistic and
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic si ...
studies. In 1826 he was engaged by 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 docu ...
to assist in the preparation of the classified catalogue of printed books, and in 1828 he became assistant keeper of manuscripts. In 1832 he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...
. At the age of 32 he was made a knight, entitling him to the initials KH after his name, and in 1837 he succeeded Josiah Forshall as Keeper of Manuscripts. He did not get on well with his colleagues, and retired in 1866. Madden was the leading palaeographer of his day. However, his ignorance of German prevented his ranking high 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 ...
, although he paid much attention to the early dialectical forms of French and English. His minor contributions to antiquarian research were numerous: the best known, perhaps, was his dissertation on the spelling of Shakespeare's name, which, mainly on the strength of a signature found in
John Florio Giovanni Florio (1552–1625), known as John Florio, was an English linguist, poet, writer, translator, lexicographer, and royal language tutor at the Court of James I. He is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England. ...
's copy of the work of
Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a lite ...
, he contended should be "Shakspere." This led to a lengthy debate and to a period when the "Shakspere" spelling nearly became the norm. On his death at his home in St Stephen's Square, London, he bequeathed his journals and other private papers to the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
, where they were to remain unopened until 1920.


Scholarship

He edited for the
Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club is a bibliophilic and publishing society based in the United Kingdom. Origins The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the Duke of Roxburghe (who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 da ...
''
Havelok the Dane ''Havelok the Dane'', also known as ''Havelok'' or ''Lay of Havelok the Dane'', is a thirteenth-century Middle English romance considered to be part of the Matter of England.''Boundaries in medieval romance'', Neil Cartlidge, DS Brewer, 2008, , 9 ...
'' (1828), discovered by himself among the Laudian manuscripts in the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
, ''William and the Werwolf'' (1832) and the old English versions of the ''
Gesta Romanorum ''Gesta Romanorum'', meaning ''Deeds of the Romans'' (a very misleading title), is a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales that was probably compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th. It still possesses a two-fold l ...
'' (1838). In 1839 he edited the ancient metrical romances of ''Syr Gawayne'' for the
Bannatyne Club The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history, ...
, and in 1847
Layamon Layamon or Laghamon (, ; ) – spelled Laȝamon or Laȝamonn in his time, occasionally written Lawman – was an English poet of the late 12th/early 13th century and author of the ''Brut'', a notable work that was the first to present the legend ...
's ''Brut'', with a prose translation, for the Society of Antiquaries. In 1850 the magnificent edition, in parallel columns, of what are known as the " Wycliffite" versions of the Bible, from the original manuscripts, upon which he and his coadjutor, Josiah Forshall, had been engaged for twenty years, was published by the University of Oxford. In 1866–69 he edited the ''Historia Minor'' of
Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey i ...
for the
Rolls Series ''The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages'' ( la, Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores), widely known as the is a major collection of British and Irish historical materials and primary sources publish ...
. In 1833 he wrote the text of Henry Shaw's ''Illuminated Ornaments of the Middle Ages''; and in 1850 he edited the English translation of Joseph Balthazar Silvestre's ''Paléographie universelle''. He was one of the three contributors to '' Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica''.


Conservation

In April 1837, when still the Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts, Madden was shown a garret of the old museum building which contained a large number of burnt and damaged fragments and codices of vellum manuscripts. Madden immediately identified them as part of the
Cotton library The Cotton or Cottonian library is a collection of manuscripts once owned by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton MP (1571–1631), an antiquarian and bibliophile. It later became the basis of what is now the British Library, which still holds the collectio ...
collection, which had been badly damaged in a fire of 1731. During his tenure as Keeper of Manuscripts, Madden undertook extensive conservation work on the Cotton manuscripts (often in the face of opposition from the Museum's board, who deemed the enterprise prohibitively expensive). In collaboration with the
bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...
Henry Gough, he developed a conservation strategy that restored even the most badly damaged fragments and manuscripts to a usable state. Vellum sheets were cleaned and flattened and mounted in paper frames. Where possible, they were rebound in their original codices. As well as the fragments found in the garret, he carried out conservation work on the rest of the collection. Many manuscripts had become brittle and fragile, including the codex that contains the only known copy of
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. T ...
( Cotton Vittelius A xv). By 1845, the work was largely complete, though Madden was to suffer one more setback when a fire broke out in the Museum bindery, destroying completely some further works from the collection.


Family

In the summer of 1837 in the district of Edmonton, then in Middlesex, he married Emily Sarah Robinson (1813–1873). She was the daughter of William Robinson (1777–1848), lawyer and historian of Tottenham, and his wife Mary Ridge (1781–1856), daughter of the Chichester banker William Ridge. Some sources suggest that William Robinson was the illegitimate son of Anne Nelson, unmarried sister of
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...
. Frederic and Emily had six known children, the eldest being Frederic William Madden (1839–1904), who in 1860 married Elizabeth Sarah Rannie (1839–1893) and had four children. Frederic, a numismatist of note, was Secretary and Bursar of
Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...
1874–88 and then Chief Librarian of the Public Library in
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
1888–1902.


Works

With Forshall: *
The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, with the Apocryphal books, in the earliest English versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers
'' (1850) As editor: * ''Syr Gawayne; a Collection of ancient Romance-Poems, by Scotish and English Authors, relating to that Celebrated Knight of the Round Table, with an Introduction, Notes, and a Glossary.'' London, 1839
Google Books


References


External links

* * * * The Journal of Sir Frederic Madden in the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
, Oxford {{DEFAULTSORT:Madden, Frederic 1801 births 1873 deaths Scientists from Portsmouth English palaeographers Employees of the British Library English antiquarians Fellows of the Royal Society Arthurian scholars Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery