Walter Fraser Oakeshott

Sir Walter Fraser Oakeshott (11 November 1903 – 13 October 1987) was a schoolmaster and academic, who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He is best known for discovering the Winchester Manuscript of Sir Thomas Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' in 1934.

Biography

Oakeshott was born on 11 November 1903 in Transvaal Colony, the second son of doctor Walter Oakeshott and his wife Kathleen. His father practised in Lydenburg, Transvaal. After the death of his father, his mother brought the family back to England. From 1917 Oakeshott was educated at Tonbridge School, where he eventually became School Captain (Head of School). He won a Classics exhibition to Balliol College, Oxford in 1922, graduating in 1926 with first class honours in Greats.

After graduation, Oakeshott taught at various schools. His first post was at Tooting Bec School, London, followed by the Merchant Taylors' School in 1927. From 1931 to 1938, he worked for Winchester College as an Assistant Master, where in 1934 he made his discovery of the Winchester Manuscript in their Fellows' Library.

From 1936 to 1937, he took a leave of absence from teaching to serve on an inquiry into unemployment sponsored by the Pilgrim Trust, the findings of which were written up as ''Men without Work'' by William Temple (1938).

Following the enquiry, Oakeshott returned to teaching, becoming High Master of St Paul's School, London in 1939, where he supervised the school's evacuation to Crowthorne in Berkshire. In 1946, he returned to Winchester College as headmaster, where he remained until elected Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford in 1954. He remained in this post until 1972, but also served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford between 1962 and 1964. His portrait was made by Jean Cooke, who had been commissioned for the work by Lincoln College.

Oakeshott was elected as a member of the Roxburghe Club for bibliophiles in 1949.
On 14 June 1980, it was announced that Oakeshott was to be awarded the honour of Knight Bachelor by the Queen, for "services to medieval literature". He also received honorary doctorates from the University of St. Andrews and UEA (1984). He was a distant cousin of English political philosopher Michael Oakeshott.

The Winchester Manuscript of Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur''

All editions of the ''Morte'' prior to 1934 were based on the edition printed by Caxton. In June of that year, when the library of Winchester College was being catalogued, Oakeshott discovered a previously unknown manuscript copy – this was one of the most important medieval manuscripts discovered in the twentieth century. Newspaper accounts appearing on 25 June, 26 June, 25 August and 27 September 1934 outlined to the public the unfolding story of the recognition that what Caxton had published in 1485 was not necessarily exactly what Malory had written. The "Winchester Manuscript" is regarded as being mostly, but not always, closer to Malory's original than is Caxton's text, although both derive separately from an earlier copy. Curiously, microscopic examination of ink smudges on the Winchester manuscript showed the marks to be offsets of newly printed pages set in Caxton's own font, indicating that same manuscript had been in Caxton's print shop. Unlike the Caxton edition, the Winchester MS is not divided into books and chapters. Indeed, in his preface, Caxton takes credit for the division.

Eugène Vinaver, an already-established Malory scholar, arrived in Winchester on 27 June asking to see the manuscript. Though he was encouraged to produce an edition himself, Oakeshott acknowledged Vinaver's editorial superiority and eventually ceded the project to him. But on the basis of his initial study of the manuscript, Oakeshott concluded as early as 1935 that the copy from which Caxton printed his edition "was already subdivided into books and sections."Walter F. Oakeshott, "Caxton and Malory's Morte Darthur," ''Gutenberg-Jahrbuch'' (1935), 112–116. Based on a more exhaustive study of the manuscript alongside Caxton's edition, Vinaver reached similar conclusions, and in his 1947 edition – polemically entitled ''The Works of Sir Thomas Malory'' – Vinaver argued strongly that Malory had in fact not written a single book, but produced a series of Arthurian tales which were internally consistent and independent works. The unity of the work has been a subject of some controversy among scholars since.

Oakeshott published an account of his remarkable discovery, "The Finding of the Manuscript," in 1963, chronicling the initial event and his realisation that "this indeed was Malory," with "startling evidence of revision" in the Caxton edition. In his account he mentions the visit of T.E. Lawrence ('Lawrence of Arabia') to see the manuscript.Walter F. Oakeshott, "The Finding of the Manuscript," ''Essays on Malory'', ed. J. A. W. Bennett (Oxford: Clarendon, 1963), 1–6.

Books by and about Oakeshott

*''The Sword of the Spirit: A Meditative and Devotional Anthology'' (Faber & Faber, 1950)
*'' Sigena: Romanesque Painting in Spain & the Winchester Bible Artists'', London, 1972, Harvey, Miller and Medcalf.
*
Founded Upon the Seas: A Narrative of Some English Maritime and Overseas Enterprises During the Period 1550–1616
', by Walter Fraser Oakeshott. Published by Ayer Publishing, 1973. .
* Dancy, John. ''Walter Oakeshott: A Diversity of Gifts'' (Michael Russell, 1995)

References

Further reading

''About the Winchester manuscript''


(Contains links to the first public announcements concerning the Winchester manuscript from ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Times'', and ''The Times Literary Supplement''.)

UBC Department of English: Siân Echard: Caxton and Winchester

External links

Inventory of the Walter Fraser Oakeshott Papers, 1926–1986 (bulk 1949–1986)
Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, Special Collections and Visual Resources.

Sir Walter Fraser Oakeshott
photograph by Godfrey Argent, bromide print, 17 July 1969, National Portrait Gallery.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oakeshott, Walter Fraser
1903 births
1987 deaths
Fellows of the British Academy
Headmasters of Winchester College
High Masters of St Paul's School
Rectors of Lincoln College, Oxford
Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford
People educated at Tonbridge School
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Knights Bachelor
Bibliophiles
20th-century British historians
South African emigrants to the United Kingdom