D. R. Shackleton Bailey | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Roy Shackleton Bailey (1917-12-10)10 December 1917 Lancaster, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 28 November 2005(2005-11-28) (aged 87) Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Classical scholar |
| Spouses | |
David Roy Shackleton BaileyFBA (10 December 1917 – 28 November 2005) was a British scholar ofLatin literature (particularly in the field oftextual criticism) who spent his academic life teaching at theUniversity of Cambridge, theUniversity of Michigan, andHarvard. He is best known for his work onHorace (editing his complete works for theTeubner series), andCicero, especially hiscommentaries andtranslations of Cicero's letters.[1]
Bailey was born inLancaster, Lancashire, the youngest of four children born to John Henry Shackleton Bailey and Rosmund Maud (née Giles).[2][3] After being educated atLancaster Royal Grammar School, where his mathematician father was headmaster, Shackleton Bailey read first Classics and then Oriental Studies atGonville and Caius College, Cambridge, before spending the years of the Second World War atBletchley Park, the home of the British code-breaking efforts.
He returned to Caius as a fellow in 1944, and in 1948 obtained a lectureship in Tibetan atCambridge University. In 1955 he migrated toJesus College, Cambridge, where, as Director of Studies in Classics, he began publishing the long series of books and articles on Latin authors that would occupy the rest of his life. He spent four more years at Caius from 1964 to 1968, this time serving as Bursar and Senior Bursar. This time, his move was reputedly because SirDenys Page, Master of Jesus, refused to allow Shack (as he was commonly known) to have a cat-flap installed in his ancient oak door. In 1968 he crossed the Atlantic, specifically to theUniversity of Michigan atAnn Arbor; and in 1976 he moved toHarvard University (whose Classics department he had visited in 1963), first as Professor of Greek and Latin, then (from 1982) as Pope Professor of the Latin Language and Literature. He twice served as the editor ofHarvard Studies in Classical Philology (1980-1981 and 1983–1985). In 1988 he retired from Harvard and became an adjunct professor at theUniversity of Michigan, teaching until 2002.[2]
In 1958 he earned the double honour of a fellowship of theBritish Academy (whoseKenyon Medal he would be awarded in 1985)[4] and aLitt.D. degree from Cambridge; he also held an honoraryLitt.D. from Dublin University, awarded in 1984. He was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1975[5] and a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1977.[6] He was a member of the American Philological Association, which awarded him theGoodwin Award of Merit in 1978; a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters; an honorary member of theSociety for the Promotion of Roman Studies; and an honorary fellow ofGonville and Caius College, Cambridge.[citation needed]
The bulk of his scholarly work focused on Latin philology and Roman history and prosopography. In retirement he prepared many editions for theLoeb Classical Library published by Harvard University Press, including those of Martial, Valerius Maximus, Statius, and the correspondence of Cicero.[citation needed]
In 1967 he marriedHilary Ann Bardwell (who was later married toAlastair Boyd), the former wife of the British authorKingsley Amis; this marriage was dissolved in 1975. In 1994 he married Kristine Zvirbulis (1946-2009).[2] He was extremely fond of cats (the first volume of his seven-volumeCambridge University Press edition of the Letters ofCicero is dedicated to Donum, a feline present from Frances Lloyd-Jones) and of classical music.[2]
He died ofAlzheimer's disease inAnn Arbor, Michigan, on 28 November 2005.[2][7]
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