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Derek Pearsall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Derek Albert Pearsall (1931–2021) was an English medievalist and Chaucerian who wrote and published widely on Chaucer, Langland, Gower, manuscript studies, and medieval history and culture. [1]

He was the co-director, Emeritus, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York; Gurney Professor of English Literature, Emeritus, Harvard University.[2][3] In 1998 he delivered the British Academy's Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture.[4]

Early and personal life

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Pearsall was born in Birmingham to parents Elsie (née Rawlins) and Joseph, a shop fitter toolmaker, and attended King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys. The first in his family to go to university,[5] Pearsall earned a B.A. in 1951 and an M.A. in 1952 from the University of Birmingham (UK).[3]

In 1952 in King's Lynn, Pearsall married Rosemary Elvidge (d. 2004), whom he had met as a student. They had four children.[5] The couple considered York, where they returned to upon retirement and had a permanent house in Clifton, to be their home.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Gustafson, Kevin. “New Directions in Medieval Manuscript Studies and Reading Practices: Essays in Honor of Derek Pearsall.” Journal of the Early Book Society for the Study of Manuscripts and Printing History 18 (2015).
  2. ^ "People". Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  3. ^ a b Aers, David, ed. (2000). "Preface by Derek Brewer". Medieval Literature and Historical Inquiry: Essays in Honor of Derek Pearsall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. pp. vii–ix. ISBN 9780859915557.
  4. ^ "Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lectures". The British Academy. text
  5. ^ a b Waldron, Ronald (24 December 2021). "Derek Pearsall obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  6. ^ "In Remembrance of Derek Pearsall". University of York. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
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