Papers of Joseph Wright

Reference and contact details: GB 0161 MSS. Eng. lang. c. 12-14, d. 77-128, e. 13-15, f. 3; Eng. lett. c. 329, d. 347; Eng. misc. a. 15, b. 117(R), c. 566-7; Top. Oxon. b. 267
Title: Papers of Joseph Wright
Dates of creation: 1878-1955
Held at: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Extent: 66 shelfmarks
Level of Description: fonds
Language of Material: eng ger grc enm

Administrative/Biographical History

Joseph Wright (1855-1930) was a philologist. Details are given in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Scope and Content

Papers of Joseph Wright, with some papers of his wife, Elizabeth Mary, including:

  • Wright's English dialect dictionary (London & New York, 1896-1901) cut up and pasted into 30 volumes, with annotations and corrections by him
  • Lists of subscribers to the dictionary
  • Newspaper cuttings concerning the dictionary
  • Drafts and manuscripts of various grammars
  • Lectures, certificates, diplomas, correspondence and photographs
  • Papers of Elizabeth Mary Wright, concerning 'Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight', ca. 1896-1923, and Havelok the Dane, 1921-2
  • Letters to Mrs Wright, 1888-1934

Administrative Information

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The papers were transferred from the Taylorian Library in 1972, except for MS. Eng. lang. c. 12 and MS. Eng. lett. c. 329, which were given to the Library in 1974.

Access Conditions

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/).

Further Information

Finding Aids

M. Clapinson and T.D. Rogers, Summary Catalogue of Post-Medieval Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library Oxford. Acquisitions 1916-1975. (Oxford, 1991), vol. I, nos. 40392-457.