John de Monins Johnson (1882–1956) was an English

papyrologist Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

, printer of the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...

'', and collector.

Biography

Johnson was born in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

in England, the second son of John Henry Johnson and Anna Braithwaite née Savory. He attended

Magdalen College School, Oxford Magdalen College School (MCS) is a public school (English independent day school) in Oxford, England, for boys aged seven to eighteen and for girls in the sixth form. It was founded by William Waynflete about 1480 as part of Magdalen College ...

and then earned a scholarship to

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

. He studied the classics and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

in preparation for a career in the

Egyptian Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. In Egypt, he became a papyrologist, discovering a papyrus by

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from h ...

that was 900 years older than any such previously discovered manuscript. Johnson returned to Oxford during World War I, physically unfit for military service. He became Assistant Secretary to the Delegates of

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 books ...

. In 1918, he married Dorothea, the daughter of his supervisor

Charles Cannan Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

. They had a son whom they named Charles, and a daughter, Paulla. In 1925, Johnson became Printer to the University at Oxford, and in 1928, he was awarded an Honorary D. Litt for his work on the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. During World War II, in addition to his printing responsibilities, he became responsible for security at Oxford University Press, living on-site until his retirement in 1946. During that time, he became a collector of what he called "printed ephemera", establishing "The Constance Meade Memorial Collection of Ephemeral Printing" at Oxford University Press. Johnson's definition of printed ephemera was "Everything which would ordinarily go into the wastepaper basket after use, everything printed which is not actually a book." He continued to build up the collection until his death. In 1968 the collection was transferred to the Bodleian Library, where it is now known as the "John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera"; the collection has been substantially enlarged since its acquisition by the Bodleian, and continues to grow.

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, John De Monins People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford People from Lincolnshire Papyrologists 1882 births 1956 deaths