Bruce Mitchell (scholar): Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Australian scholar}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} |
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{{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}} |
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'''Raymond Bruce Mitchell''' (8 January 1920 – 30 January 2010) was a scholar of [[Old English]]. |
'''Raymond Bruce Mitchell''' (8 January 1920 – 30 January 2010) was a scholar of [[Old English]]. |
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===Early life, Australia=== |
===Early life, Australia=== |
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Mitchell was born in [[Lismore, New South Wales]]. He won a free place at the [[University of Melbourne]] but was unable to take it up and instead after leaving school at 15, worked as a student teacher while studying part-time. He earned a general Arts degree.<ref name=Telegraph>{{cite news|url= |
Mitchell was born in [[Lismore, New South Wales]]. He won a free place at the [[University of Melbourne]] but was unable to take it up and instead after leaving school at 15, worked as a student teacher while studying part-time. He earned a general Arts degree.<ref name=Telegraph>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/7198822/Bruce-Mitchell.html|title=Bruce Mitchell|date=9 February 2010|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=25 February 2011 | location=London}}</ref> |
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He was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1940 and served as an intelligence officer in the [[Second Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] from 1941 to 1946. He then ran a printing company before returning to the university, again part-time while working as a gardener, builders' labourer and railway porter, and tutoring English at the university. He took Firsts in English Language and Literature in 1948 and in Comparative Philology in 1952.<ref name=Telegraph/> |
He was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1940 and served as an intelligence officer in the [[Second Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] from 1941 to 1946. He then ran a printing company before returning to the university, again part-time while working as a gardener, builders' labourer and railway porter, and tutoring English at the university. He took Firsts in English Language and Literature in 1948 and in Comparative Philology in 1952.<ref name=Telegraph/> |
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===Scholarly career, Oxford=== |
===Scholarly career, Oxford=== |
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He entered [[Merton College, Oxford]], on a scholarship in 1952, the same year he married Mollie Miller, who had accompanied him from Australia. They received permission to be married from Mitchell's supervisor, [[J.R.R. Tolkien]].<ref name="definitive">{{cite news |url= |
He entered [[Merton College, Oxford]], on a scholarship in 1952, the same year he married Mollie Miller,<ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900-1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=437}}</ref> who had accompanied him from Australia. They received permission to be married from Mitchell's supervisor, [[J.R.R. Tolkien]].<ref name="definitive">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/bruce-mitchell-anglosaxon-scholar-who-wrote-the-definitive-work-on-old-english-syntax-1931428.html |title=Bruce Mitchell: Anglo-Saxon scholar who wrote the definitive work on Old English syntax|last=Godden |first=Malcolm |date=31 March 2010 |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=31 March 2010 | location=London}}</ref> He received a doctorate in 1959 with a thesis entitled ''Subordinate Clauses in Old English Poetry''.<ref name=Telegraph/><ref>{{cite book |last=Walmsley| first=John |title=Inside Old English: Essays in Honour of Bruce Mitchell |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Oxford, Malden |year=2006 |pages=19 |isbn=978-1-4051-1483-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TLOkLec9dsC&pg=PT19}}</ref> In 1986 he gained the degree of D.Litt. (Oxon) for his contribution to Old English studies. |
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Mitchell was a Fellow and a Tutor at [[St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] from |
Mitchell was a Fellow and a Tutor at [[St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] from 1954<ref name=MCreg /> to 1987, and after retirement was elected an [[emeritus]] [[fellow]].<ref name=Telegraph/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seh.ox.ac.uk/index.php?action=view&id=153&module=newsmodule&src=%40random41940a897e943 |title=News: Dr Bruce Mitchell, Emeritus Fellow, St Edmund Hall |date=1 February 2010 |publisher=[[St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] |access-date=2 February 2010}}</ref> |
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Though he spent his entire life in Oxford since age 32, he never lost his Australian accent, and displayed his heritage by having an Australian flag and a [[eucalyptus tree]] in his garden.<ref name="definitive" /> |
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⚫ | His specialty was [[Old English]] language and literature and particularly ''[[Beowulf]]''; his textbooks on Old English language are considered classics in the field, as is his edition of ''Beowulf'', which he published with [[Fred C. Robinson]].<ref>{{cite news |url= |
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⚫ | His specialty was [[Old English]] language and literature and particularly ''[[Beowulf]]''; his textbooks on Old English language are considered classics in the field, as is his edition of ''Beowulf'', which he published with [[Fred C. Robinson]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB915761062528139500?mod=googlewsj |title=The Anglo-Saxon Who Took Hollywood |last=Bukowski |first=Elizabeth |date=11 January 1999 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=2 February 2010}}</ref> His "magisterial" and "phenomenal" book on Old English syntax is still the standard reference work in the field.<ref name="definitive"/> |
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==Bibliography== |
==Bibliography== |
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===Works authored=== |
===Works authored=== |
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*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|author2=Fred C. Robinson|title=A Guide to Old English|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year= |
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|author2=Fred C. Robinson|author2-link=Fred C. Robinson|title=A Guide to Old English|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=2007|edition=7|isbn=978-1-4051-4690-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0RSfnHNdKUC}} |
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** [https://books.google.com/books?id=hwzlYFlKlOoC 8th edition, 2012], Wiley-Blackwell. (The 1st (1964) and 2nd (1968) editions were written by Mitchell alone — later editions, from 1982 onward, were co-authored by Mitchell and Robinson. Mitchell contributed to the 7th edition but the 8th edition was done after his death.) |
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*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=Old English Syntax, Vol. 1: Concord, the parts of speech, and the sentence|publisher=Clarendon|location=Oxford|year=1985|isbn=978-0-19-811935-7}} |
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=Old English Syntax, Vol. 1: Concord, the parts of speech, and the sentence|publisher=Clarendon|location=Oxford|year=1985|isbn=978-0-19-811935-7}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=Old English Syntax Vol. 2: Subordination, independent elements, and element order|publisher=Clarendon|location=Oxford|year=1985|isbn=978-0-19-811944-9}} |
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=Old English Syntax Vol. 2: Subordination, independent elements, and element order|publisher=Clarendon|location=Oxford|year=1985|isbn=978-0-19-811944-9}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=On Old English: Selected Papers|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|year=1988|isbn= 0-631-15872-3}} |
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=On Old English: Selected Papers|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|year=1988|isbn= 0-631-15872-3}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=1995|isbn=978-0-631-17436-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljV5N2JDcdkC}} |
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=1995|isbn=978-0-631-17436-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljV5N2JDcdkC}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|author2=Fred C. Robinsion |author3=Leslie Webster |title=Beowulf: An Edition with Relevant Shorter Texts|publisher=Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=1998|isbn=978-0-631-17226-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uujn741w2Y4C}} (first published 1998) |
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|author2=Fred C. Robinsion |author2-link=Fred C. Robinson |author3=Leslie Webster |author3-link=Leslie E. Webster |title=Beowulf: An Edition with Relevant Shorter Texts|publisher=Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=1998|isbn=978-0-631-17226-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uujn741w2Y4C}} (first published 1998)<ref>{{cite journal|title=Reviewed Work: "Beowulf": An Edition by Bruce Mitchell, Fred C. Robinson|author=Hill, Thomas D.|journal=The Journal of English and Germanic Philology|volume=101|issue=3|date=July 2002|pages=437–439|jstor=27712258}}</ref> |
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===Selected articles=== |
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*{{cite journal|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|year=1992|title=Literary Lapses: Six Notes on ''Beowulf'' and its Critics|journal=[[Review of English Studies]]|pages=1–17}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Baker|first=Peter S.|author2=Nicholas Howe|title=Words and works: studies in medieval English language and literature in honour of Fred C. Robinson|publisher=U of Toronto P|year=1998|pages=143–58|chapter=''The Dream of the Rood'' Repunctuated|isbn=978-0-8020-4153-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M1c4WxIbNdYC&pg=PA143}} |
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===''Festschrift''=== |
===''Festschrift''=== |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
{{Authority control}} |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Mitchell, Bruce |
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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
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| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Australian scholar |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = 8 January 1920 |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = |
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| DATE OF DEATH = 30 January 2010 |
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| PLACE OF DEATH = |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Bruce}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Bruce}} |
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[[Category:1920 births]] |
[[Category:1920 births]] |
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[[Category:Australian philologists]] |
[[Category:Australian philologists]] |
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[[Category:People from New South Wales]] |
[[Category:People from New South Wales]] |
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[[Category:Australian |
[[Category:Australian Army personnel of World War II]] |
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[[Category:University of Melbourne alumni]] |
[[Category:University of Melbourne alumni]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]] |
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]] |
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[[Category:Fellows of St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] |
[[Category:Fellows of St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] |
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[[Category:Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Australian Army officers]] |
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[[Category:Military personnel from New South Wales]] |
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[[Category:Burials in Oxfordshire]] |
Latest revision as of 07:49, 9 April 2024
Raymond Bruce Mitchell (8 January 1920 – 30 January 2010) was a scholar of Old English.
Biography
[edit]Early life, Australia
[edit]Mitchell was born in Lismore, New South Wales. He won a free place at the University of Melbourne but was unable to take it up and instead after leaving school at 15, worked as a student teacher while studying part-time. He earned a general Arts degree.[1]
He was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1940 and served as an intelligence officer in the Australian Imperial Force from 1941 to 1946. He then ran a printing company before returning to the university, again part-time while working as a gardener, builders' labourer and railway porter, and tutoring English at the university. He took Firsts in English Language and Literature in 1948 and in Comparative Philology in 1952.[1]
Scholarly career, Oxford
[edit]He entered Merton College, Oxford, on a scholarship in 1952, the same year he married Mollie Miller,[2] who had accompanied him from Australia. They received permission to be married from Mitchell's supervisor, J.R.R. Tolkien.[3] He received a doctorate in 1959 with a thesis entitled Subordinate Clauses in Old English Poetry.[1][4] In 1986 he gained the degree of D.Litt. (Oxon) for his contribution to Old English studies.
Mitchell was a Fellow and a Tutor at St Edmund Hall, Oxford from 1954[2] to 1987, and after retirement was elected an emeritus fellow.[1][5]
Though he spent his entire life in Oxford since age 32, he never lost his Australian accent, and displayed his heritage by having an Australian flag and a eucalyptus tree in his garden.[3]
His specialty was Old English language and literature and particularly Beowulf; his textbooks on Old English language are considered classics in the field, as is his edition of Beowulf, which he published with Fred C. Robinson.[6] His "magisterial" and "phenomenal" book on Old English syntax is still the standard reference work in the field.[3]
Mitchell was Terry Jones's tutor and believed he was the inspiration for Monty Python's "Bruces" sketch; he was disappointed to find out Eric Idle had written it and it was not based on him.[1]
Bibliography
[edit]Works authored
[edit]- Mitchell, Bruce; Fred C. Robinson (2007). A Guide to Old English (7 ed.). Oxford, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-4690-6.
- 8th edition, 2012, Wiley-Blackwell. (The 1st (1964) and 2nd (1968) editions were written by Mitchell alone — later editions, from 1982 onward, were co-authored by Mitchell and Robinson. Mitchell contributed to the 7th edition but the 8th edition was done after his death.)
- Mitchell, Bruce (1985). Old English Syntax, Vol. 1: Concord, the parts of speech, and the sentence. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN 978-0-19-811935-7.
- Mitchell, Bruce (1985). Old English Syntax Vol. 2: Subordination, independent elements, and element order. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN 978-0-19-811944-9.
- Mitchell, Bruce (1988). On Old English: Selected Papers. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-15872-3.
- Mitchell, Bruce (1995). An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-17436-3.
- Mitchell, Bruce; Fred C. Robinsion; Leslie Webster (1998). Beowulf: An Edition with Relevant Shorter Texts. Oxford, Malden: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-17226-0. (first published 1998)[7]
Festschrift
[edit]Walmsley, John (2006). Inside Old English: Essays in Honour of Bruce Mitchell. Oxford, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4051-1483-7.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Bruce Mitchell". The Daily Telegraph. London. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ a b Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900-1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 437.
- ^ a b c Godden, Malcolm (31 March 2010). "Bruce Mitchell: Anglo-Saxon scholar who wrote the definitive work on Old English syntax". The Independent. London. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
- ^ Walmsley, John (2006). Inside Old English: Essays in Honour of Bruce Mitchell. Oxford, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4051-1483-7.
- ^ "News: Dr Bruce Mitchell, Emeritus Fellow, St Edmund Hall". St Edmund Hall, Oxford. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- ^ Bukowski, Elizabeth (11 January 1999). "The Anglo-Saxon Who Took Hollywood". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- ^ Hill, Thomas D. (July 2002). "Reviewed Work: "Beowulf": An Edition by Bruce Mitchell, Fred C. Robinson". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 101 (3): 437–439. JSTOR 27712258.
- 1920 births
- 2010 deaths
- Anglo-Saxon studies scholars
- Australian academics
- Australian literary critics
- Australian philologists
- People from New South Wales
- Australian Army personnel of World War II
- University of Melbourne alumni
- Alumni of Merton College, Oxford
- Fellows of St Edmund Hall, Oxford
- Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom
- Australian Army officers
- Military personnel from New South Wales
- Burials in Oxfordshire