Malcolm Parkes
Malcolm Beckwith Parkes (26 June 1930 – 10 May 2013), credited as an author as M. B. Parkes, was an English paleographer, notable for his contributions to the scholarship of medieval manuscripts.[1] His studies of the manuscripts of Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland were especially important, and his 1978 article "The Production of Copies of the 'Canterbury Tales'" was described as "seminal".[2]
Parkes was a student of
The Song of Roland and his work on early manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales (with Ian Doyle), still considered a standard. His 1969 book English Cursive Book Hands, 1250-1500 is "the authoritative account", according to David Ganz,[1] and its formatting is still employed by other scholars.[3] His work on punctuation (Pause and Effect: an Introduction to the History of Punctuation in the West, 1993) focuses on "visual reading aids"[4] and was highly influential.[1] His Lyell Lectures at Oxford discussed the prosopography of English scribes[1] and focussed on how they wrote, rather than on terms for identifying scripts, and proved him an erudite and entertaining lecturer.[5]
His books have glossaries which demonstrate how precisely he used language.
He compiled a catalogue of Keble College's medieval manuscripts which was published in 1979 by Scolar Press, London.[6]
Parkes was elected to the Comité international de paléographie latine in 1986 and was a corresponding fellow of the Medieval Academy of America from 1992. He died on 10 May 2013.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Ganz, David (6 June 2013). "Malcolm B. Parkes, Palaeographer (1930-2013)". medievalfragments. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ISBN 9780472106042.
- ISBN 9781903153093. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ISBN 9789051836585. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^ Rundle, David (27 May 2013). "Malcolm Parkes RIP". Bonæ litteræ: occasional writing from David Rundle, Renaissance scholar. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ISBN 0-85967-504-1
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