Gollancz, Israel

Secretary of the British Academy; born in London 1864. He was educated at the City of London School and Cambridge University (B.A., 1887). He was lecturer in English at University College 1892-95; lecturer at Cambridgeunder the Special Board 1888-96; and examiner for the medieval and modern tripos 1895-96. He was elected lecturer in English at the University of Cambridge in March, 1896. When, owing in large measure to Gollancz's initiative, the British Academy was founded in 1902, he was appointed secretary. In 1903 he became professor of English literature at King's College, London. Gollancz has always interested himself in communal affairs; he is connected with several of the chief institutions, has been for several years theological tutor to the Jewish students at Harrow School, and in 1903 was elected president of the Union of Jewish Literary Societies.

Gollancz has edited: "The Pearl," a Middle-English poem prefaced with a special verse by Tennyson, 1891; "Cynewulf's Christ," 1892; "Exeter Book of Anglo-Saxon Poetry" (Early English Text Society), 1895; "Temple Shakespeare," 1894-96, of which nearly three million copies have been sold, and which led to the publication of the "Temple Classics," a series of the best books; "The Parliament of the Three Ages" (Roxburgh Club), 1897; and "Hamlet in Iceland," 1898. Gollancz is now (1903) editing another series entitled "The King's Classics."

Bibliography:

  * Who's Who, London, 1903;
  * Jew. Chron. March 20, 1896;
  * Jewish Year-Book, 1903.



J. V. E.