George Stuart Gordon
George Stuart Gordon(1881–12 March 1942) was a British literary scholar.
Life
[edit]Gordon was educated at theUniversity of GlasgowandOriel College, Oxford,where he received a First Class inClassical Moderationsin 1904,Literae Humanioresin 1906, and theStanhope Prizein 1905. He was a Fellow ofMagdalen College, Oxford,from 1907 to 1915.
Gordon was Professor ofEnglish Literatureat theUniversity of Leedsfrom 1913 to 1922. Later, he was Merton Professor of English Literature atOxford,from 1922 to 1928;[1]President ofMagdalen College, Oxford,[2]Professor of Poetrythere, andVice-Chancellor(1938–1941). He was one of theKolbítar,J. R. R. Tolkien's group of readers ofIcelandic sagas.[3][unreliable source?]His students at Oxford included the authorSherard Vines.[4]
Gordon famously argued that English Literature was capable of having a widespread and positive influence. In his inaugural lecture for his Merton professorship, he argued that "England is sick, and… English literature must save it. The Churches (as I understand) having failed, and social remedies being slow, English literature has now a triple function: still, I suppose, to delight and instruct us, but also, and above all, to save our souls and heal the State".[5]
His son,George Gordon,was a notedphysiologist.[6]
Works
[edit]- Henry Peacham'sThe Compleat Gentleman(1906) editor
- English Literature and the Classics(1912) editor, contribution onTheophrastus
- Mons and the Retreat(1917)[7]
- Medium Aevum and the Middle Age(1925) Society for Pure English Tract 19
- Richard II(Shakespeare) (1925) editor
- On writing and writers,Walter Alexander Raleigh(1926) editor
- Companionable Books(1927)
- Shakespeare's English(1928) Society for Pure English Tract 29
- Anglo-American Literary Relations(1942)
- The Letters of G. S. Gordon, 1902-1942(Oxford University Press, 1943)
- Shakespearian Comedy and other studies(1945)
- The Discipline of Letters(1946)
- Robert Bridges(1946)Rede Lecture
- More Companionable Books(1947)
- The Lives of Authors(1950)
External links
[edit]- Catalogueof Gordon's archive at Magdalen College
References
[edit]- ^Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964).Merton College Register 1900–1964.Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 149.
- ^He had been a Fellow of Magdalen from 1907; mentioned inC. S. Lewis,Lettersp.208. Gordon tutored Lewis."C. S. Lewis Foundation - the Life of C.S. Lewis".Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2012.Retrieved12 April2007..
- ^"Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien".Planet Tolkien.Archived fromthe originalon 25 July 2011.
- ^Snell, William (2008)."Five Previously Unpublished Poems by Sherard Vines"(PDF).The Geibun-Kenkyu: Journal of Arts and Letters.95:501.
- ^Wheen, Francis (2004).How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World.Harper Perennial. p. 82.
- ^"George Gordon".BMJ.BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. 12 July 2021.
- ^Under MI7; seePDF
- Mary C. Biggar Gordon (1945)The Life of George S. Gordon 1881–1942
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1881 births
- 1942 deaths
- Literature educators
- Literary critics of English
- Alumni of the University of Glasgow
- Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
- Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford
- Presidents of Magdalen College, Oxford
- Academics of the University of Leeds
- Vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford
- Oxford Professors of Poetry
- Merton Professors of English Literature
- Fellows of Merton College, Oxford