Edward Nicholson (librarian)
Edward Nicholson | |
---|---|
St. Helier, Jersey | |
Died | 17 March 1912 , England | (aged 63)
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Author, librarian |
Spouse |
Helen Grant (m. 1876) |
Children | 3 |
Edward Williams Byron Nicholson (16 March 1849 – 17 March 1912) was a British author and Bodley's Librarian. He was the head of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, from 1882 until his death in 1912. Nicholson was also an early advocate of animal rights.
Early life and career
Nicholson was born in
Nicholson had been the librarian at Tonbridge School and was the honorary Librarian of the Oxford Union Society from 1872 to 1873, and produced catalogues of the contents of each library, demonstrating his aptitude for cataloguing.[1][2] After spending some time teaching, he became Principal Librarian and Superintendent of the London Institution in 1873. He reinvigorated the organisation, which promoted education through lectures and a library, and helped to increase its activities, membership and income, as well as the quality of its library. An international conference of librarians was held in London in 1877, largely through his work, leading with his help to the foundation of the Library Association of the United Kingdom. He was a council member until 1881, when he resigned complaining that the council had failed to instigate "one single improvement however trifling in library-management or library-appliances".[1]
Oxford
The library continued to suffer from inadequate space and money, but Nicholson made the most of the building and his staff, even though increasing the number of books added pressure on the available space. Nicholson proposed an underground book store in 1899 and work on this (the first specially-constructed underground book store to be built), along with other expansion work, began in 1907. However, by this time, his struggles and hard work had affected his health: he was confirmed as suffering from heart disease in 1890, he had a breakdown in 1901, and collapsed in the street in 1907 on two occasions. His last dispute with staff concerned his decision to appoint a woman to a permanent position. He was very reluctant to take a leave of absence from the library, suspecting motivations behind the suggestions, but finally did so less than a month before his death.
Outside the library, he enjoyed chess, swimming, cycling, and writing limericks. He was noted for his kindness and consideration, and was particularly appreciated by junior staff at the library.[1]
He died at home in Oxford on 17 March 1912.[1]
Animal rights
Nicholson was an early advocate of
Nicholson dedicated the book to Arthur Helps and John Lawrence.[3] It contains a reprint of Lawrence's chapter "The Rights of Beasts".[4]
The book was criticized in the Nature journal, in 1879. The reviewer commented that "animals, as sentient creatures, have some rights—i.e., that man may not kill or torture them needlessly without incurring some moral blame—no one nowadays would undertake to dispute. It therefore seems useless to fill, a number of pages with a number of truisms on the theme that animals have some rights in common with man."[5]
Publications
Nicholson published on various topics, such as classical literature and Celtic antiquities.[1] His writings included:
- The Christ-Child, and other poems, 1877.
- The Rights of an Animal, 1879.
- The Bodleian Library in 1882–1887, 1888.
- Golspie, contributions to its folklore, collected and edited by Edward WB Nicholson London, 1897.
- The Gospel according to the Hebrews, 1879.
- Keltic Researches: Studies in the History and Distribution of the Ancient GoidelicLanguage and People. London, 1904.
- "The Vandals in Wessex", 1906.
- Can We Not Save Architecture in Oxford?, 1910.[2]
References
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ Who Was Who 1920–2008. Oxford University Press. December 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-299-11840-1
- ^ Salt, Henry Stephens. (1922). Animals' Rights: Considered in Relation to Social Progress. London: G. Bell and Sons. p. 158
- S2CID 42383573.
External links
- Works by or about Edward Nicholson at Wikisource