Margaret Rickert (May 5, 1888 – 1973) was an American

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and World War II codebreaker. In 1954, she became the first American and first woman to author a volume in the original series of the Pelican History of Art with her title, ''Painting in Britain: The Middle Ages.'' She was the sister of art historian

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, ...

. Born in 1888, Richert earned her Ph.D. from 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 ...

in 1938. Her dissertation was on the reconstruction of an English

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

missal from a scrapbook housed in 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 docum ...

. In 1952, she published a book based on this dissertation. During World War II, Rickert worked as a codebreaker for the

U.S. Army Signal Corps ) , colors = Orange and white , colors_label = Corps colors , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = ...

in Washington, D.C. Rickert died in 1973. Her papers are housed at the University of Chicago Library.

Published works

*Rickert, Margaret J. ''Painting in Britain: The Middle Ages''. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1963. *Rickert, Margaret J, and Philip A. Hanrott. ''The Reconstructed Carmelite Missal: An English Manuscript of the Late XIV Century in the British Museum (additional 29704-5, 44892)''. London: Faber and Faber, 1952. *Rickert, Margaret J. ''The So-Called Beaufort Hours and York Psalter''. London, 1962.

References

External links

1888 births 1973 deaths University of Chicago alumni American military personnel of World War II {{US-art-historian-stub