James Halliwell-Phillipps

James Orchard Halliwell - Phillipps (* June 21, 1820 in London, † January 3, 1889 ) was a British historian of literature and was known by his studies and collections of William Shakespeare.

Life, services and works

He was born the son of Thomas Halliwell in London and was educated privately at Jesus College, Cambridge. He devoted himself antiquariatischer research, particularly in early English literature. In 1839 he edited The Travels of Sir John Mandeville; In 1842 he published a report of the European Manuscripts in the Chetham Library, and by the way a new-found romance of the 18th century (Torrent of Portugal).

In 1848 he published his Life of Shakespeare, which appeared in several editions, from 1853 to 1865 in a precious edition with all critical remarks, which was limited to 150 copies. The illustrations were made by John Thomas Blight, the Halliwell for it but never paid. In 1863 he brought out a calendar of the records of Stratford -on- Awn and 1864 the history of New Place.

After 1870 he gave up all literary criticism and turned his attention to the discussion of Shakespeare's life. He collected all the facts and information available and relevant documents that could be found in local records, in his overview of the life of Shakespeare.

He was the main party on the purchase of New Place for Things to Do in Stratford- upon- Avon and the local origin of the Shakespeare Museum.

In all, he published more than sixty books.

The name Phillipps he assumed in 1872, according to the will of his grandfather his first wife, a daughter of Sir Thomas Phillipps.

He actively exercised influence on the Camden Society, the Percy Society and the Shakespeare Society, for which he edited many early English and Elizabethan work. From 1845, Halliwell was excluded from the library of the British Museum, on suspicion of theft of some manuscript, which he removed from the library of Trinity College (Cambridge). An opinion on the matter, he published privately in 1845.

Halliwell - Phillipps found in the British Museum, the oldest manuscript of stonemason guilds, the so-called Regius Manuscript, called for this reason also Halliwell manuscript.

His house, Hollingbury Copse near Brighton was full of rare and strange work, and he gave many of them the Chetham Library in Manchester, the city library of Penzance, the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of the University of Edinburgh.