John de Monins Johnson

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John de Monins Johnson (1882–1956) was an English papyrologist, printer of the Oxford English Dictionary, and collector.[1]

Biography

Johnson was born in

Egyptian Civil Service. In Egypt, he became a papyrologist, discovering a papyrus of Theocritus that was 900 years older than any such previously discovered manuscript.[2]

Johnson returned to Oxford during World War I, physically unfit for military service. He became Assistant Secretary to the Delegates of

D. Litt
for his work on the Oxford English Dictionary.

During World War II, in addition to his printing responsibilities, he became responsible for security at Oxford University Press, living on-site until his retirement in 1946. During that time, he became a collector of what he called "printed ephemera", establishing "The Constance Meade Memorial Collection of Ephemeral Printing" at Oxford University Press. Johnson's definition of printed ephemera was "Everything which would ordinarily go into the wastepaper basket after use, everything printed which is not actually a book." He continued to build up the collection until his death. In 1968 the collection was transferred to the Bodleian Library, where it is now known as the "John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera"; the collection has been substantially enlarged since its acquisition by the Bodleian, and continues to grow.

Notes

  1. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34203. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ Johnson, John de Monins; Hunt, Arthur Surridge (1930). Two Theocritus Papyri. Egypt Exploration Society. Graeco-Roman Memoirs 22. London: Egypt Exploration Society.
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