John Duncan Cowley FLA (1897–1944) was Director of the School of Librarianship of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

from 1934 to 1944 and was the Goldsmiths' Librarian in 1944. He joined the RAFVR in 1940 and was a

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

at the time of his death.

Works

Cowley is the author of ''A Bibliography of Abridgments, Digests, Dictionaries, and Indexes of English Law to the Year 1800'', which was published by the

Selden Society The Selden Society is a learned society and registered charity concerned with the study of English legal history. It functions primarily as a text publication society, but also undertakes other activities to promote scholarship within its sphere ...

in London in 1932. It is "valuable" and "thoroughly commendable". ''The Use of Reference Material: An Introductory Manual for Librarianship Students and Assistants'' was published by Grafton in London in 1937, and ''Training for Librarianship in the United States'' was published by the University of London in 1938. ''Bibliographical Description and Cataloguing'' was published in octavo in 1939 by Grafton in London. It was reprinted in 1970 as number 341 in the Burt Franklin bibliography and reference series. Matter in the book continued to be of interest in 1972, despite its age.

Legacy

Cowley was commemorated by the Cowley Prize awarded by

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

.UCL. Calendar. 1950. p 438
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References

"Cowley, John Duncan"

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edition, Oxford University Press, April 2014. *Hart, E P (ed). "Cowley, John Duncan" in ''Merchant Taylors' School Register, 1851-1920''. Merchant's Taylors' Company. 1923. Page 408
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*The Library World: 47 (535) 49. October 1944
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*The School Librarian. 5 October 1944. Page 121
Vols 3-4, Google Books
*The Library Association Record. 9 September 1944. Page 172. Google Books

*"The late Squadron Leader J. D. Cowley". The Librarian and Book World. 1944. Vols 33–34. Page 145. Google Books

*The Library World. 1966. Vols 67–68. Page 134
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*The Year's Work in Librarianship. Volume 12. Library Association. 1949. Page 203
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*Thomas Kelly. A History of Public Libraries in Great Britain 1845–1965. Library Association. 1973. Page 332
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*Milne, A T. Librarianship and Literature: Essays in Honour of Jack Pafford. A & C Black
p 4
*MacDonald and Broughton (eds). Annual Bibliography of English Language & Literature. Cambridge University Press. 1952. Volume 22 (1941)
Page 3
Serjeantson and Broughton (eds). Volume 18 (1937). Published 1939
Page 10
*Marke J J. A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University. New York University Law Library. 1953
p 1193
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, John Duncan 1897 births 1944 deaths British librarians Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force squadron leaders Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II