JETHRO BITHELL: A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

BY L. A. WILLOUGHBY

I SUPPOSE I owe the honour of being asked to write this introduction to two facts: that Mr. Bithell is the oldest of my London colleagues, and that both of us came to London from the University of Manchester. For what Manchester thinks today, London notoriously thinks tomorrow ! And, moreover, we both derive from that same region of England bordering on Irwell and Humber.

Bithell was born eighty years ago, on January 29th, 1878, on a farm near Wigan and was originally intended for, and indeed was for a time actually engaged in, business. After some years at Wigan Technical College he proceeded to the University of Manchester to study under its newly appointed professor of German, Arwid Johannson. In 1900 he graduated with first-class honours in Modern Languages, continued his studies in Copenhagen and Munich, and in 1904 returned to his old university as Lecturer in German, a post he exchanged in 1910 for the headship of a department of German at Birkbeck College. He was appointed Reader in 1921, and Birkbeck remained his home until he retired in 1938.

When Bithell came to London Birkbeck was only just emerging from its original status as a ‘Mechanics’ Institute and Workmg Men’s College’, and was having d&culty in coping with the d u x of students attracted by the growing reputation of a new teaching university. But it was not until 1924 that it became a f d y fledged School of the University of London, and meanwhile Bithell carried on single-handed at first, often in squalid condi- tions, in the old tumble-down bddmgs off Chancery Lane. He made his mark from the start both as a forceful, inspiring teacher and as a meticulous and wide-ranging scholar. Old students are never tired of dilating on the dignified, distinguished figure with the bow tie and gold-rimmed glasses who still looks out at us from the photograph adorning this number of German Life and Letters. They remember with respect and affection the eager, often humorous manner with which he would deal with the many different sub- jects of the Syllabus, the enthusiasm which he knew how to arouse for a language and literature which have become for them ‘a joy for ever‘. They record the ready sympathy and understanding he devoted to their problems; how in moments of excitement he would revert to his native Lancashire dialect. With his strict philological training he had a passion and a gift for ‘le mot juste’, and no doubt it is to this that we owe his dictionary and admirable lmguistic textbooks. Bithell was no narrow specialist and he could delight his students with memorable renderings from his favourite

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254 JETHRO BITHELL: A B I O G R A P H I C A L N O T E

medieval authors, for he had remarkable poetic gfts. HIS translations from the Minnesingers in 1909 immediately won him a place in the world of letters and - young lecturer as he still was - the entry into the select com- pany in Who’s Who. From Middle High German he went on to contem- porary German, Belgian, French and Flemish poetry and, in 1929, ended up with translations from Henrik Wergeland which have been acclaimed as a ‘tour de force’. But why repeat what is already set out in the impressive list of publications printed in this issue? It was not for nothig that his Puritan- minded parents called him ‘Jethro’, for he has indeed given himself in all ‘abundance and excellence’! Perhaps h s most abiding work is the compen- dious volume Gerrrrony, with which he provided the specialist and general public with a readable and reliable guide, a h i d of ‘Gesamtkunstwerk‘ of German cultural achevements. His own remarkable and successful contribu- tion to this volume brings order and life to the numerous and conflicting inovements in German literature of the twentieth century and provides a lasting memorial to his critical judgment and powers of presentation. He made his d u e n c e fclt in even wider circles through a number of scholarly school texts; in particular his popularization of Carossa in war time showed a whole generation of young people that not all Germans were to be sum- manly dismissed as Nazis. He has won the personal regard and friendship of many of the leadmg authors in Germany and, in his contributions to this Journal, has brought several of them to the attention of the British public. That his Austrian friend, Felix Braun, has contributed two poems to this number is a proof of the affectionate regard with whch he is held by his friends and admirers on the Continent. Bithell was a keen supporter of, and regular contributor to, Grrrnan Life nnd Letters, and it is only fitting that his friends, pup& and colleagues should offer him this Anniversary Number with their heartiest wishes for ‘many happy returns of the day’. It has been rendered possible by the material support and encouragement of the lnstitute of Germanic Languages and Literatures in the University of London and the Governors of Birkbeck College, to whom the Editors offer their sincere thanks.

PUBLICATIONS OF JETHRO BITHELL

THE following list was made, largely from information which Mr. Bithell himself has supplied, by Janet R. Drake of the Institute of Germanic Languages and Liter- atures at the University of London. It lays no claim to completeness, and the ‘Jubilar’ himself writes: ‘I wrote more for the Belgian reviews, and (I think) for Paris reviews, but I have no trace of them.’ H i s numerous book reviews, many of which have appeared in this journal, are not listed.

LITERARY CRIIlCISM - BOOKS W. B. Years, traduit de I’anglais par Franz Hellens. H. Lamertin, Brussels & Pans, 1912. Lqe and Writings .f Maurice Maeterlinck. Great Writers Series. Walter Scott Publishing Co., London,

Contemporary Belgian Literature. London, Fisher Unwin, 191 5 . Modern German Literature. London, Methuen, 1939. 3rd ed., revised and continued to 1957, 1958. Editor: Germany. A Companion to German Studies. London, Methuen, 1932. 5th ed., revised and en-

, 1913.

larged, 195s.

LITERARY CRITICISM - ARTICLES

Thomas Hardy, poete lyrique. Les Marges, Pans, August Isth, 1921. La jeune poksie anglaise. Les Marges, Paris, March Isth, 1922. The Country: its Peoples, its Language and its Thought. In: Germany. A Companion to German Studies

German Literature from I880 to 1931. In: Gerniany. A Companion to German Studies, 5th ed. continued

German History from 1931 to 1937. In: Germany. A Companion to German Studies, 5th ed., 1955. Sixty Years of Goethe, 1880-1940. Modem Language Review, April 1941. Hans Carossa. German Lge and Letters, January 1948. Carossa in England.

(see above).

to 1954.

In: Gruss der Insel an Hats Carossa. Z u m 70. Geburtstag des Dichters. Insel-Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1948.

Stefan George and Ida Coblenz. In: German Sfirdies presented to Leonard Ashley Wiffouphby by Pupils. - . . . Colleag~es and Friends on his Refirement. Blackweli, Oxford, 1952.

Rudolf Hem and the New Austrian Literature. German Lije and Lefters, April 1953. F e h Braun. German Lge and Letters, April 1954. Franz Theodor Csokor. German Lye and Letters, October 1954. Stefan George - The Man. Cermart Lge atrd Letters, October 195s. Felix Braun’s Selected Works. German Lye and Lef#ers, April 1958.

EDITIONS AND ANTHOLOGIES

Hans Carossa, Eine Kindheit. Blackwell’s German Texts. Oxford, 1942. Hans Carossa, Verwandlungen einer Jugend. Blackwell’s German Texts. Oxford, 1949. A German Poetry Book. [With A. Watson Bain.] Methuen, London, 1924. 8th ed., enlarged, 1950. An Anthology oJGerman Poefry, I 880-1940. Methuen, London, 1941. 7th ed., revised, 195s. A French Poetry Book. [With A. Watson Bain.] Methuen, London, 1946. A n Anthology of German Poetry, 1830-1 880. Methuen, London, 1947. A n Anrhology of German Poetry, I 730-1830. Methuen, London, 1957.

TRANSLATIONS

The Minnesingers, vol. I . Translations. [No more published.] Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1909. Contemporary German Poetry. Walter Scott Publishins Co., London, 1909. Contemporary Belgian Poetry. Walter Scott Publishing Co., London, rgr I . Contemporary French Poetry. Walter Scott Publishing Co., London, 1912. Verhaeren. By Stefan Zweig. London, Constable and Co., 1914. Emilc Verhaeren, Helen of Sparfa. In: The Plays ofEmile Verhaeren. London, Constable and Co., 1916. Contemporary Flemish Poefry. Walter Scott Publishing Co., London, 1917. Drachmann, H. H., Byron i Vadmel- Byron in Homespun. London, Harrap, 1920.

25s

256 P U B L I C A T I O N S OF JETHRO BITHELL

Hennk Wergeland. Poems. With G. M. Gathome-Hardy and I. Grondahl. Oslo and London, 1929. Gustav Vollmoeller. Turandot, Princess of China. (Produced by Sir George Alexander 3t St. James’s

Theatre.) Fisher Unwin, London, 191).

Lmcwsnc WORKS

German Protiiinciafiott and Photrology. London, Methuen, 1952. German-English and English-German Dictionary. London, Pitman, 1922. 5th ed., with enlarged Addenda,

Pitmatt’s Commerciol German Grammar. London, Pitman, 1912. A German Comefor Science Studetrts. [With A. C . Dunstan.] London, Methuen, 1925. 8th ed., enlarged,

A French Readerfor Science Students. London, Methuen, 1926. 4th ed., enlarged, 1952. English-Datiislt Commercial Correspondence. [With J. H. Helweg.] London, Marlboroughs, 1927. A Modern German C o m e for Students of History, Geography, Economics and Literature. [With A. C. Dun-

stan.] London, Methuen. 1928. Noriuegiarr-English Commercial Correspondence. London, Marlboroughs, 1928. Advanced German Composifion. London, Methuen, 1929. 3rd ed., enlarged, 1937. Key to Advanced Germari Composition. [With W. Theilkuhl.] London, Methuen, 1929. 2nd ed., 1947. Dutch-English Commercial Correspondence. [With J. Kooistra.] London, Marlboroughs, 1929. A Commercial German Reader. [With A. E. Eastlake.] London, Mechuen, 1933.

1958-

1953.