Thompson, Edward Maunde, Sir, 1840-1929

Sir Edward Maunde Thompson (1840-1929), palaeographer, was born in Jamaica on 4 May 1840. He joined the British Museum in 1861, and became assistant-keeper (1871), then keeper (1878), in the Manuscripts Department. He became principal librarian in 1888, and retired in 1909. Thompson helped to found the Palaeographical Society in 1873, and the British Academy, of which he became a fellow in 1902, and was president, 1907-1909. He was Sandars reader in bibliography at Cambridge University, 1895-1896 and 1905-1906. He died at Mayfield, Surrey, on 14 September 1929.

From the guide to the Sir Edward Maunde Thompson: Lectures on Schools of Manuscript Illumination, 1906, (Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives)

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