Strickland Gibson (27 January 1877 – 18 February 1958) was an English librarian and

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

, who also served as

Keeper of the Archives The position of Keeper of the Archives at the University of Oxford in England dates from 1634, when it was established by new statutes for the university brought in by William Laud ( Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the University) ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

from 1927 to 1945.

Education and professional life

Gibson was born on 27 January 1877. He was educated at

New College School New College School (officially St Mary's College School) is an independent preparatory school for boys aged 4 to 13 in Oxford. It was founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham to provide for the education of 16 choristers for the chapel of New C ...

in Oxford, and then obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of

St Catherine's Society, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although th ...

(a non-collegiate body that later became St Catherine's College). He held various posts at the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

: Assistant (1895–1912); Secretary to

Bodley's Librarian The head of the Bodleian Library, the main library at the University of Oxford, is known as Bodley's Librarian: Sir Thomas Bodley, as founder, gave his name to both the institution and the position. Although there had been a university library at ...

(1912–1931); and Sub-Librarian (1931–1945). He became a lecturer in bibliography in the university's Faculty of English in 1923, and was honorary secretary and general editor of the Oxford Bibliographical Society (of which he was a co-founder) from 1922 onwards. He was appointed

of the university in June 1927. He retired from his various posts in 1945. His main area of study was book binding, becoming "a master in that field" in the words of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. His main work, written with John Johnson (Printer to the University of Oxford), was ''Print and Privilege at Oxford to the year 1700'', which drew on his knowledge of bibliography and university history. His publications included works on book binding, Oxford libraries, an edition of the ancient statutes of the university, and Oxford's ceremonies; he was also contributor to the

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

volume on the university. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the

Bibliographical Society Founded in 1892, The Bibliographical Society is the senior learned society dealing with the study of the book and its history in the United Kingdom. Largely owing to the efforts of Walter Arthur Copinger, who was supported by Richard Copley ...

in 1947 in recognition of his work as a bibliographer. He died at his home in Oxford on 18 February 1958.

Family

In 1908, Gibson married Margaret Alice Clinkard (1884-1973). Their daughter, Margaret Ada Gibson, was born in 1910 and a son, Strickland Hillary Gibson, followed in 1914 and died in 1959.Finding aid for Margaret A. Gibson letter, Washington University
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Strickland 1877 births 1958 deaths English librarians English archivists English bibliographers Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Keepers of the Archives of the University of Oxford