Elias Avery Lowe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Elias Avery Loew (1879-10-15)15 October 1879 Moscow, Russia |
| Died | 8 August 1969(1969-08-08) (aged 89) Bad Nauheim, Germany |
| Spouse | H. T. Lowe-Porter |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Charlotte Johnson Wahl (granddaughter) James Fawcett (son in-law) Edmund Fawcett (grandson) Boris,Rachel &Jo Johnson (great grandchildren) |
| Academic background | |
| Education | City College of New York Cornell University University of Halle University of Munich |
| Thesis | Die ältesten Kalendarien aus Monte Cassino (1908) |
| Doctoral advisor | Ludwig Traube |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Palaeography andcodicology |
| Institutions | University of Oxford Institute for Advanced Study |
| Notable works | Codices Latini Antiquiores |
Elias Avery Lowe (15 October 1879 – 8 August 1969), originally surnamedLoew, and known in print asE. A. Lowe, was a Russian-Americanpalaeographer at theUniversity of Oxford andPrinceton University. He was a lecturer, and then reader, at the University of Oxford from 1913 to 1936, and a professor at Princeton'sInstitute for Advanced Study from 1936.
Elias Avery Loew was born on 15 October 1879 in Moscow (then part of theRussian Empire) to aJewish family headed by Charles Loew, a silk and embroidery merchant, and his wife, Sarah Ragoler. He emigrated to New York City with his parents in 1892, becoming a citizen of the United States in 1900. In 1918 he altered the spelling of his surname to Lowe.[1]
After studying at the College of the City of New York (nowCity College of New York) from 1894 to 1897, Lowe obtained aBA atCornell University in 1902. Thereafter he studied briefly at theUniversity of Halle, and then at theUniversity of Munich where, under the supervision ofLudwig Traube, he completed his doctorate in 1908. He first lectured at theUniversity of Oxford in 1913. In 1914 he gave theSandars Lectures on bibliography at theUniversity of Cambridge. In the same year Oxford granted him a regular appointment aslecturer, appointing himreader in 1927. Nearly all of Lowe's palaeography teaching occurred at the latter institution. Although he became one of the first professors at Princeton'sInstitute for Advanced Study (where no teaching was required) in 1936, he continued to lecture at Oxford duringTrinity terms until 1948. In addition, he acted as a consultant in palaeography for theLibrary of Congress, and, from 1911 to 1953, as research associate in palaeography for theCarnegie Institution of Washington.[1]
Lowe wrote several important works on early medieval palaeography, includingTheBeneventan Script (his 1914 study of the oldest extant manuscript ofSt Benedict's rule), and his collectedPalaeographical Papers, 1907–1965 (published posthumously in 1972). He remains best known, however, for the eleven-volumeCodices Latini Antiquiores (CLA) which offers a palaeographical guide to all extant Latin literary manuscripts copied in scripts antedating the ninth century. Published 1934–1971, this monumental work covers over 1,800 manuscripts from repositories in twenty-one countries, providing detailed descriptions and one or more facsimiles for each manuscript.[1][2]
An internationally respected authority in his field, Lowe received formal recognition from numerous academies, institutes, and scholarly societies. He was awarded theMedieval Academy of America's Haskins Medal in 1957, the gold medal of theBibliographical Society in 1959, and hadhonorary doctoral degrees conferred on him by theUniversity of Oxford (1936), theUniversity of North Carolina (1946), and theNational University of Ireland (1964).[1] From 1954 until his death in 1969, he was anHonorary Fellow ofCorpus Christi College of Oxford University.
In 1911, Lowe married the translatorHelen Tracy Lowe-Porter. The couple had three daughters.[1] Among their descendants are English artistCharlotte Johnson Wahl, and her son, journalist and politicianBoris Johnson, the formerPrime Minister of the UK.[3]
Although Lowe "never abandoned his solidarity with the Jewish people", he declined to practise Judaism. Towards the end of his life he told one of his daughters that, were he to adhere to a religion, he would opt forRoman Catholicism.[1]
Lowe died on 8 August 1969 inBad Nauheim, Germany. His ashes were interred atCorpus Christi College, Oxford.[1]
A series of lectures onpalaeography, theTriennial E. A. Lowe Lectures, continues to be held at Corpus Christi College in his memory.[4]
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