Rachael Low (6 July 1923 – 14 December 2014) was a British film historian, best known as the author of the seven-volume ''The History of the British Film''. The daughter of the cartoonist Sir David Low,Richards, Jeffrey. "Introduction" to Low's ''The History of British Film 1896–1906'', London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, 1997 948 p. v she gained her BSc in sociology and economics in 1944 from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

, and her doctorate from 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 degr ...

in 1949. She published, in seven volumes between 1948 and 1985, ''The History of the British Film''; this examines, in exacting detail, film production in Britain from its origins in 1896 until 1939. She was awarded a Research Fellowship by

Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college is named in honour of Lucy Cavendish (1841–1925), who campaigned for the reform of women's education. History The college was founded in 1965 by fe ...

, to facilitate her work on the later volumes of the series. Film critic

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

has criticised Low's "tyrannous influence" on the writings of subsequent film historians.

Legacy

The annual Rachael Low Lecture was established in 2007 in her honour, as part of the British Silent Film Festival. In December 2018, an event was held at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Library to assess her legacy and mark her contribution to the history of early British film.

Principal works

Originally published by

George Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

, Low's history is now published by

. *''The History of the British Film 1896–1906'' (with

Roger Manvell Arnold Roger Manvell (10 October 1909 – 30 November 1987)"Manvell, Roger< ...

), Allen & Unwin, 1948 *''The History of the British Film 1906–1914'', Allen & Unwin, 1948 *''The History of the British Film 1914–1918'', Allen & Unwin, 1948 *''The History of the British Film 1918–1929'', Allen & Unwin, 1950 *''The History of the British Film 1929–1939: Films of Comment and Persuasion of the 1930s'', Allen & Unwin, 1979 *''The History of the British Film 1929–1939: Documentary and Educational films of the 1930s'', Allen & Unwin, 1979 *''The History of the British Film: Film Making in 1930s Britain'', Allen & Unwin, 1985

References

1923 births Fellows of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge British film historians 2014 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics British women historians {{UK-film-bio-stub