John Matthews Manly (September 2, 1865 — April 2, 1940) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professor of English literature and

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

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. Manly specialized in the study of the works of

William 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 nation ...

and

Geoffrey 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 wa ...

. His eight-volume work, ''The Text of the Canterbury Tales'' (1940), written in collaboration with his former student

Edith Rickert Edith Rickert (1871–1938) was a medieval scholar at the University of Chicago. Her work includes the ''Chaucer Life-Records'' and the eight-volume ''Text of the Canterbury Tales'' (1940). Rickert was born in Dover, Ohio, to Francis E. Rickert, ...

, has been cited as a definitive study of Chaucer's works.

Early life and education

Manley was born in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

the son of Charles Manly, a Baptist minister and university president. He attended

Staunton Military Academy Staunton Military Academy was a private all-male military school located in Staunton, Virginia. Founded in 1884, the academy closed in 1976. The school was highly regarded for its academic and military programs, and many notable American political ...

and

Greenville Military Institute The Patrick Military Institute was an American military school founded in South Carolina by Colonel John Bellinger Patrick. The school operated from 1878 to 1900. History The institute was initially founded in 1878 as the Greenville Military Insti ...

. At the age of 18, Manly earned a master's degree in Mathematics from

Furman University Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...

. In 1890, he received a PhD from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in Philology, a non-departmental field for which he created his own curriculum.

Career

In 1884, at the age of 19, Manly accepted a position at

William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri Baptist Conventi ...

teaching Mathematics which he held for five years. After taking his doctorate in 1890 and teaching Anglo-Saxon at

Radcliffe Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to: Places * Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan United Kingdom * Radcliffe, Greater Manchester ** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town ** Radcliffe tram stop * ...

for a year, Manly accepted a call to

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and became one of the chief members of the English staff there, until 1898. He then accepted the department chair in English at the University of Chicago which he maintained until retirement. He gave the 1926 Warton Lecture on English Poetry. (Manly was the first American to give a Warton Lecture.) In 1931 he published a paper in '' Speculum'' disproving William Romaine Newbold's deciphering of the

Voynich Manuscript The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex hand-written in an otherwise unknown writing system, referred to as 'Voynichese'. The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438), and stylistic anal ...

Selected publications

* as editor: * with Edith Rickert: ;

References

External links

List of John Matthews Manly publications

Full Text of "Contemporary British Literature: Bibliographies and Study Outlines," by John Matthews Manly and Edith Rickert.
* *
Guide to the John Matthews Manly Papers 1885-1940
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
1865 births 1940 deaths University of Chicago faculty Brown University faculty Furman University alumni Harvard University alumni Philologists Shakespearean scholars Chaucer scholars Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Linguists from the United States Presidents of the Modern Language Association {{US-linguist-stub