Derek Stanley Brewer (13 July 1923 – 23 October 2008) was a Welsh

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

scholar, author and publisher.

Life

Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, the son of a clerk with General Electric, Brewer read English at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

, where he was taught, among others, by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...

. He served as

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

with the Worcestershire Regiment and with the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, from 1942 to 1945, then returned to Oxford. He took a Second. He was appointed

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, where he remained until 1964, when he moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

to take up the position of lecturer in English and then become fellow of Emmanuel College. From 1977 to 1990 he served his college as

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

. Brewer was one of the most recognized

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 w ...

scholars of modern times—his ''Chaucer and His World'' (1978, reissued 2000) "could be said to have started a whole new genre in historical literary biography."Derek Brewer Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' (online) He was also the founder in 1972 of an

academic press Academic Press (AP) is an academic book publisher founded in 1941. It was acquired by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1969. Reed Elsevier bought Harcourt in 2000, and Academic Press is now an imprint of Elsevier. Academic Press publishes refer ...

named for him, D. S. Brewer, now

Boydell & Brewer Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, editio ...

, which made a mark publishing scholarly work neglected by the larger presses. He died in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, a month after the death of his wife Elisabeth. Obituaries in all the main British newspapers and blogs in the US speak highly of his love of literature and the profession,Derek Brewer Obituary
''Unlocked Wordhoard'' (blog) his advocacy of struggling academics of the medieval period to get their work published,
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' his encouragement of female students (a rarity in the medieval field during much of his lifetime), and his courtesy and friendliness.Derek Brewer Obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

Select bibliography

Books authored and edited

*Geoffrey Chaucer, ''The Parlement of Foulys''. Ed. Derek Brewer. London: Nelson, 1960. *''Chaucer, the Critical Heritage''. Ed. Derek Brewer. London, Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978. . *''Chaucer and His World''. London: Eyre Methuen, 1978. . *''Symbolic Stories: Traditional Narratives of the Family Drama in English Literature''. Cambridge: Brewer; Totowa: Rowman & Littlefield, 1980. . *''Traditional Stories and Their Meanings''. London: English Association, 1983. . *''An Introduction to Chaucer''. London, New York: Longman, 1984. . *''Studies in Medieval English Romances: Some New Approaches''. Ed. Derek Brewer. Cambridge: Brewer, 1988. *''A Companion to the Gawain-Poet''. Ed. Derek Brewer and Jonathan Gibson. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1997. .

Articles

*“The Tutor: A Portrait,” in ''C. S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table'', James T. Como, editor, 1979, 41-67. *"Chaucer and the Bible." In Kinshiro Oshitari et al., eds., ''Philologia Anglica: Essays Presented to Professor Yoshio Terasawa on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday''. Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 1988. 270-84. *"Chaucer's Poetic Style." In Piero Boitani and Jill Mann, eds., ''The Cambridge Chaucer Companion''. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986. 227-42. *"Orality and Literacy in Chaucer." In Willi Ertzgräber and Sabine Volk, eds., ''Mundlichkeit und Schriftlichkeit im englischen Mittelalter''. Script Oralia 5. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 1988. 85-119. *"Contributions to a Chaucer Word-Book from ''Troilus'' Book IV." In Michio Kawai, ed., ''Language and Style in English Literature: Essays in Honor of Michio Masui''. English Research Association of Hiroshima. Tokyo: Eihosha, 1991. 27-52. *"Arithmetic and the Mentality of Chaucer." In Piero Boitani and Anna Torti, eds., ''Literature in Fourteenth-Century England: The J. A. W. Bennett Memorial Lectures, Perugia, 1981-1982''. Tübingen: Narr; Cambridge: Brewer, 1983. 155-64. *"Chaucer's Venuses." In Juliette Dor, ed., ''A Wyf Ther Was: Essays in Honour of Paule Mertens Fonck''. Liège: Université de Liège, 1992. 30-40.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Derek 1923 births 2008 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Academics of the University of Birmingham Masters of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Royal Fusiliers officers British medievalists Chaucer scholars British Army personnel of World War II Worcestershire Regiment officers Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America