Moses Tyson (born 1897,

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

; died 1969), was a British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

who was Keeper of Western Manuscripts at the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

from 1927 to 1935 and then Librarian of the Manchester University Library from 1935 until 1965. He was the first University Librarian to be a member of the University Senate. His successor Frederick William Ratcliffe described him as "''one of the great unsung figures of the University''"; according to Brian Pullan, historian of the University, Dr Tyson was "''a painfully shy bachelor who shunned the company of women''" and "''the self-effacing, misogynistic, chain-smoking Librarian''". His friends included Sir William Watson the poet and H. B. Charlton, Professor of English Literature at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

. Tyson was a Member of the

Chetham Society The Chetham Society "for the publication of remains historic and literary connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester" is a text publication society and registered charity (No. 700047) established on 23 March 1843. History The ...

, and served as a Member of Council (1934-58) and as Secretary (1940-51). He was also a Member of the

Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society). Promine ...

Works

* 1930 : ''Hand-List of the Collections of French and Italian Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library''. Manchester: Manchester University Press (first published in ''Bulletin'', vol. 14, pp. 563–609) * 1932 : (with Henry Guppy) ''The French Journals of Mrs Thrale and Doctor Johnson'' edited from the original manuscripts in the John Rylands Library and in the British Museum. Manchester: Manchester University Press (Rylands English MSS. 617; British Museum ow British LibraryAdd MS 35299) * 1937 : ''The Manchester University Library''. Manchester: University Press * 1941 : "The First Forty Years of the John Rylands Library" in: ''Bulletin of the John Rylands Library''; vol. 25, pp. 46–66 *Other contributions to the ''Bulletin'' were: "Hand-list of charters, deeds and similar documents, vol. II" (vols. 17, pp. 130–77, 348–82; 18, 393–454); "Hand-list of the collection of English manuscripts, 1928" (vol. 13, pp. 152–219); additions, 1928–35 (vol. 19, pp. 230–54, 458–85); "Hand-list of additions to the collections of Latin manuscripts, 1908–28" (vol. 12, pp. 581–609); "The Spanish manuscripts" (vol. 16, pp. 188–99); "Unpublished manuscripts, papers and letters of Dr Johnson, Mrs Thrale, and their friends ng. MSS. 530-660 (vol. 15, 467–88); "A review and other writings by Charles Dickens ng. MS. 725 (edited by Tyson; vol. 18, 177–96).

Footnotes

External links

The papers of Moses Tyson
in the

University of Manchester Library The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyson, Moses 1897 births 1969 deaths English librarians People from Westmorland 20th-century British historians Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society John Rylands Research Institute and Library Chetham Society