Osborn, James Marshall

James Marshall Osborn (1906-1976), literary historian and author of several works, including Young Philip Sidney (1972), as well as the founder of the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection of rare books and manuscripts.

The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Yale University Library.

Epithet: collector and curator of manuscripts

James Marshall Osborn, literary historian, founder of the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection at Yale University, and Holstein cattle breeder, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1906. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1928, and joined the investment advisory department of Guaranty Trust in New York. The next year, he married Marie-Louise Montgomery, a graduate of Vassar.

In 1932 Osborn left Guaranty Trust to study for a Master's degree in English at Columbia University. Two years later, the Osborns moved to England with their two sons, and James began to work toward a B.Litt degree at Oxford University. While at Oxford, Osborn pursued his interest in eighteenth-century literary history and began to acquire the literary and historical manuscripts that would form the core of the Osborn Collection.

Osborn was appointed Research Associate in English at Yale University in 1938; he held the position until the time of his death. He was named Adviser on Seventeenth Century Manuscripts to the Yale Library in 1954, and in 1963, when he began the transfer of his collection to Yale, became the first curator of the Osborn Collection.

Osborn's publications include The Autobiography of Thomas Whythorne (1961); an edition of Joseph Spence's Observations, Anecdotes and Characters (1966); and Young Philip Sidney (1972).

In addition to his scholarly activities, Osborn was also a noted dairy cattle breeder and promoter of Holsteins from 1940 to 1960. He received the D.Litt from Oxford University in 1968, and was named Curator Emeritus of the Osborn Collection in 1972. James Marshall Osborn died in New Haven on October 17, 1976.

James Marshall Osborn, literary historian, founder of the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection at Yale University, and Holstein cattle breeder, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1906. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1928, and joined the investment advisory department of Guaranty Trust in New York. The next year, he married Marie-Louise Montgomery, a graduate of Vassar.

In 1932 Osborn left Guaranty Trust to study for a Master's degree in English at Columbia University. Two years later, the Osborns moved to England with their two sons, and James began to work toward a B.Litt degree at Oxford University. While at Oxford, Osborn pursued his interest in eighteenth-century literary history and began to acquire the literary and historical manuscripts that would form the core of the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection.

Osborn was appointed Research Associate in English at Yale University in 1938; he held the position until his death. He was named Adviser on Seventeenth Century Manuscripts to the Yale Library in 1954, and in 1963, when he began the transfer of his collection to Yale, became the first curator of the Osborn Collection.

Osborn's publications include The Autobiography of Thomas Whythorne (1961); an edition of Joseph Spence's Observations, Anecdotes and Characters (1966); and Young Philip Sidney (1972).

In addition to his scholarly activities, Osborn was also a noted dairy cattle breeder and promoter of Holsteins from 1940 to 1960. He received the D.Litt from Oxford University in 1968, and was named Curator Emeritus of the Osborn Collection in 1972. James Marshall Osborn died in New Haven on October 17, 1976.

Edmond Malone, literary scholar and editor of Shakespeare, was born in Ireland, the second son of a member of the Irish House of Commons and Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He received his B.A. from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1762, and was called to the Irish bar. On a visit to London in 1764, Malone met the writer Samuel Johnson, who encouraged his interest in a literary career, but he returned to Ireland to practice law in Dublin.

In 1776, his uncle Anthony Malone died and bequeathed Edmond an annuity of 1,000 pounds. Malone almost immediately ended his legal career and moved permanently to London, although he continued to visit his Irish relatives. Malone assisted George Steevens on the second edition of the Johnson-Steevens Shakespeare ; the first volume contained Malone's groundbreaking An Attempt to Ascertain the Order in which the Plays Attributed to Shakespeare Were Written (1778). Malone next edited Shakespeare's narrative poems, sonnets, and apocryphal plays.

As Malone became known in the London literary world, he renewed his friendship with Johnson and became close to several in Johnson's circle, particularly Sir Joshua Reynolds. In 1782 he was elected to Johnson's Literary Club, and was its treasurer from 1784 until his death. As a result of his membership, Malone developed close friendships with several members of Johnson's circle, including Charles James Fox, Charles Burney, Joseph Banks, and James Boswell.

Malone's proposed edition of the complete works of Shakespeare was announced by his friend John Nichols in the Gentleman's Magazine in August of 1783. Malone conducted extensive documentary research, consulting many of the early quartos as well as the folio editions in an effort to establish an authoritative text, and interpreted his findings with historical insight. The resulting Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare was published in 1790 to wide acclaim, although Joseph Ritson, among others, were highly critical of Malone's preference for the text of the first folio over that of the second folio.

While editing Shakespeare, Malone was also aiding James Boswell in his efforts to write the biographical works on Johnson that would make him famous. Malone revised the manuscript of Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D and saw it through publication in 1785. For the next six years, Malone provided invaluable support and assistance to Boswell as he wrote the Life of Johnson, editing the text as Bowell produced it, encouraging Boswell through depression and illness, and helping Boswell with the final revisions before its 1791 publication. Malone was one of Boswell's executors, and it was Malone who had Boswell's papers and manuscripts organized and returned to Boswell's family at Auchinleck House when Boswell died in London in 1795.

In 1796, Malone's publication of An Inquiry into the Authenticity of Certain Miscellaneous Papers and Legal Instruments demonstrated convincingly that the sensational "discoveries" of supposed Shakespeare manuscripts by William Henry Ireland were purely modern forgeries, ending Ireland's celebrity.

Malone continued his Shakespeare research in his later years, but interrupted it for a variety of other projects, including editions of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds and John Dryden. He died on May 23, 1812 in London; his mass of research materials and notes on Shakespeare were edited and published by James Boswell the younger (1778-1822), who also wrote Malone's obituary for the Gentleman's Magazine .

James Marshall Osborn, literary historian, founder of the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection at Yale University, and Holstein cattle breeder, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1906. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1928, and joined the investment advisory department of Guaranty Trust in New York. The next year, he married Marie-Louise Montgomery, a graduate of Vassar.

In 1932 Osborn left Guaranty Trust to study for a Master's degree in English at Columbia University. Two years later, the Osborns moved to England with their two sons, and James began to work toward a B.Litt degree at Oxford University. While at Oxford, Osborn pursued his interest in eighteenth-century literary history and began to acquire the literary and historical manuscripts that would form the core of the Osborn Collection.

Osborn was appointed Research Associate in English at Yale University in 1938; he held the position until the time of his death. He was named Adviser on Seventeenth Century Manuscripts to the Yale Library in 1954, and in 1963, when he began the transfer of his collection to Yale, became the first curator of the Osborn Collection.

Osborn's publications include The Autobiography of Thomas Whythorne (1961); an edition of Joseph Spence's Observations, Anecdotes and Characters (1966); and Young Philip Sidney (1972).

In addition to his scholarly activities, Osborn was also a noted dairy cattle breeder and promoter of Holsteins from 1940 to 1960. He received the D.Litt from Oxford University in 1968, and was named Curator Emeritus of the Osborn Collection in 1972. James Marshall Osborn died in New Haven on October 17, 1976.