Ballot Archive

09 Dec 2021

Candidate Details

Candidate Name

Adam Smyth

Academic degrees, honours etc.

BA Oxford, MA PhD Reading

Profession or occupation

Professor of English Literature and the History of the Book and Clarendon University Lecturer, Oxford Unviersity

Grounds for election

Professor Adam Smyth is a historian of literature and of the book, especially in 1450-1660 and especially in England. In addition to his many scholarly articles, his major contributions to scholarship include field-defining monographs on material texts, autobiography and miscellanies in early modern England; editing significant volumes and journal issues on topics including the history of book parts, the destruction of books, and the history of reading, all especially in early modern Europe; and co-founding Inscription, a field-changing academic journal on material texts that also covers antiquarian topics. His research is informed by his knowledge of historical printing techniques and his practice as a printer, for example with projects related to printing Shakespeare and Shandy Hall. Through his exhibitions, media appearances and publications, for example in Times Literary supplement and London Review of Books, he engages a broad public with the materiality of early modern texts.

Signatories

The following Fellows have signed this Blue Paper