Collection K/PP69 - KELLY, Professor James Fitzmaurice- (1857-1923)

Born at Glasgow, 1857; Kelly later prefixed his mother's surname, Fitzmaurice, to his own; educated at St Charles's College, Kensington, and learnt some Spanish from a fellow pupil; later taught himself to read Don Quixote ; in Spain in 1885, where he acted as tutor to Don Ventura Misa in Jerez de la Frontera and formed friendships with Juan Valera, Gaspar Núñez de Arce, and other leading men of letters; returned to London, 1886; began to make a name for himself as an authority on Spain and as a reviewer for the Spectator , Athenæum , and Pall Mall Gazette ; influenced by the critic William Ernest Henley; made his mark on Spanish studies with his life of Cervantes, 1892; corresponding member of the Spanish Academy, 1895; with his History of Spanish literature (1898) came to occupy a position of authority in the subject; delivered a Taylorian lecture at Oxford on Lope de Vega, 1902; member of council and medallist of the Hispanic Society of America, 1904; created knight of the order of Alfonso XII, 1905; elected fellow of the British Academy, 1906; supported himself by writing until chosen by the University of Liverpool as its first Gilmour professor of Spanish language and literature, 1909-1916; member of the Academy of History, Madrid, 1912; member of the Academy of Buenas Letras, Barcelona, 1914; Cervantes Professor of Spanish language and literature, King's College London, 1916-1920; retired from teaching, but continued his literary work, 1920; member of the Academy of Sciences, Lisbon, 1922; died at his house at Sydenham, 1923. Publications: Life of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1892); History of Spanish Literature (1898, new editions 1913, 1926); with John Ormsby, edited Don Quixote (1898-1899); edited Complete Works of Cervantes (only Galatea , Exemplary Novels , and Don Quixote were published, 1901-1903); Cervantes in England (1905); Chapters on Spanish Literature (1908); 39 articles on Spanish literature and authors in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th edition, 1910); Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1913); The Oxford Book of Spanish Verse (1913); Cervantes and Shakespeare (1916); Cambridge Readings in Spanish Literature (1920); summarized Cervantine studies for the Year Book of Modern Languages (1920); selection of his letters published in the Revue Hispanique , lxxiv (1928). All his principal works were translated into Spanish.

David McDowall Hannay, journalist and author, was born in London, 1853; educated at St Peter's College, Westminster; British Vice Consul at Barcelona; journalist, Pall Mall Gazette , Saturday Review , and St James's Gazette ; died, 1934. Publications include: Admiral Blake (1886); Rodney (1891); Don Emilio Castelar (1896); Short History of Royal Navy (2 volumes, 1898, 1909); Ships and Men (1910); The Great Chartered Companies (1926).