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. 1 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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