Leslie Casson

Leslie Frank Casson (1903–1969) was a mediaevalist and art historian. Born in England, he was professor of English Language and Medieval Literature at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, from 1952 to 68,[1] where he was also head of the department.[2] His area of interest extended from Latin manuscripts[3] to the poetry of Edmund Spenser.[4] He also worked on the manuscripts in the Grey Collection,[5] the library bequeathed by George Grey to the National Library of South Africa; it comprises 5,000 volumes, including 115 manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.[6] Casson gained a PhD in literature from the University of Edinburgh in 1942.[7] For the Early English Text Society, he edited the Middle English romance Sir Degrevant.[8]

Teaching and legacy

Casson was known for his stern approach to his students, which included Jeff Opland (author of Anglo-Saxon Oral Poetry: A Study of the Traditions; Yale UP, 1980)[2] and David Pelteret (author of Slavery in Early Mediaeval England).[9]

References
  1. Guide to the South African manuscript collections in the South African Library, Cape Town. Government Archives Service. 1987. ISBN 9780797007345 – via Google Books.
  2. Opland, Jeff (2005). The dassie and the hunter: A South African meeting. University of KwaZulu-Natal Press. pp. 1, 105. ISBN 978-1-86914-036-6 – via Google Books.
  3. A fourteenth century concordance to the Vulgate: Ms. Grey 48 b 1 in the South African Public library, Cape Town. Quarterly bulletin of the South African Library. 1960 – via Google Books.
  4. Poetic dialect of Edmund Spenser, its origins, and the scope of its influence as far as the end of the eighteenth century. University of Adelaide. 1932 – via Google Books.
  5. Casson, Leslie Frank (1959). "The mediaeval manuscripts of the Grey Collection in saleroom and bookshop". Quarterly bulletin of the South African Library – via Google Books.
  6. "Special Collections". National Library of South Africa. Archived from the original on 24 August 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  7. Casson, L. F. (1942). The romance of Sir Degrevant (Thesis).
  8. Diamond, Arlyn (2004). "Sir Degrevant: What Lovers Want". In McDonald, Nicola (ed.). Pulp fictions of medieval England: essays in popular romance. Manchester UP. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-7190-6319-0 – via Google Books.
    - Kane, George (1951). Middle English literature: a critical study of the romances, the religious lyrics, "Piers Plowman". Taylor & Francis. p. 90. ISBN 9780416077001 – via Google Books.
  9. Pelteret, David Anthony Edgell (2001). Slavery in Early Mediaeval England) from the Reign of Alfred Until the Twelfth Century. Boydell & Brewer. p. xi. ISBN 978-0-85115-829-7.


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