Papers of Professor Archibald H. Campbell (1902-1989)

The collection is composed of personal correspondence from circa 1921 and Edinburgh University notes and material from circa 1919. There is also a large amount of printed law journals and journal offprints. There are postcards, Christmas cards, framed photographs, loose photographs, photograph albums, and diploma cylinders. There are also newspapers and news-cuttings. Much of the material is unsorted. One particular filing box contains letters of W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and Humphrey Carpenter, along with many articles and news-cuttings. Several items either handwritten or in typescript from Auden to Campbell in Edinburgh over the period 1928 to 1960.

Archibald Hunter Campbell was born 21 May 1902 in Edinburgh. He was educated at George Watson's College in the city, at Edinburgh University, and then at University College, Oxford. He won a Prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, and was called to the English Bar. He was Barrister at Law of Lincoln's Inn. In 1935 he was appointed Barber Professor of Jurisprudence at Birmingham University. During the Second World War he was summoned into service at Bletchley Park where he was a codebreaker, first of Italian codes, then of Japanese. After the war he returned to Edinburgh and to the University's Regius Chair of Public Law and the Law of Nature and the Nations which he held from 1945 to 1972. He was Dean of the Faculty of Law, 1958-64. He was also an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College. His scholarly work included notable papers on Fascism and Legality, on Obligation and Obedience to Law, and on the structures and sources of Stair's Institutions. The friends of his youth included the poets Auden and Isherwood. Professor Archibald Hunter Campbell died in Edinburgh 8 June 1989.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

Professor A. H. Campbell's material acquired August 1989, Accession no. E89.60. His library was presented to Edinburgh University Library in 1984.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Obituaries. Prof. Archibald Campbell. Winds of change in Scottish legal education. The Times. London: The Times, 8 June 1989. (2) University of Edinburgh journal. Vol.13. 1944-1945. p71. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1945. (3) Who's who 1987. London: A. and C. Black, 1987.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Campbell's library was presented to Edinburgh University Library and it includes first editions, often with presentation inscriptions, of works by Spender and Auden. Shelfmarks include SC 5076-SC 5339 and JA 3936-JA 3951.