Papers of Professor John P. Renwick (b. 1939)

The papers of Professor John P. Renwick at MSS 3212-3213 consist of working papers for an edition of Voltaire's Brutus. There are several files of manuscript, typescript, printed matter, and offprints, as well as first drafts of the introduction, first proof of the work, and second and final proofs.

At E2006.08 there is material relating to the production and publication of a work on Voltaire's Histoire du parlement de Paris. The material includes: proof copies of Renwick's publication; index and Liste des ouvrages cites; notes and corrections; a correspondence file covering the period 2002-2005; correspondence between Edinburgh and Bron (in France), and notes sent from Bron; notes on the various editions of Voltaire's work used in the publication; and various copies of Voltaire's eighteenth century works, including Brutus and Histoire du parlement de Paris.

At E2006.31 there is material relating to the production and publication works on Voltaire's Les Guebres and Guerre civile de Geneve. The material includes: proof copies; notes; correspondence; and, various copies of the relevant eighteenth century works by Voltaire. In addition, there are notes relating to Brutus, correspondence with the Voltaire Foundation and other ephemera, Voltaire Foundation catalogues, off-prints, and printed items of Les Cahiers du Silence published 1943-1944.

Professor John P. Renwick was born in Gillingham, Kent, in 1939. He was educated at Gillingham Grammar School and then at St. Bartholomew's Grammar School, Newbury. He studied at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, 1958-1962, and at the Sorbonne and British Institute in Paris, 1962-1964. In Paris he held a Leverhulme Research Scholarship. From 1964 until 1966, Renwick was an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, and then from 1966 until 1972 was an Official Fellow, Title A, at Churchill College, Cambridge. In the early-1970s, he was on the staff of the French Department at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France. In 1974, Renwick was appointed Professor of French at the New University of Ulster where he remained until 1980 and his appointment to the John Orr Chair of French at Edinburgh University. His main research interests are 17th century and 18th century literature and culture, rhetoric and poetics, and his publications and compilations include La Destinee posthume de Jean-Francois Marmontel (1723-1799): bibliographie critique (articles et documents) (1972), and Chamfort devant la posterite, 1794-1984 (1986). He has also edited Catalogue de la bibliotheque du Marquis d'Espinchal (1988), L'Invitation au voyage: studies in honour of Peter France (2000), and Les œuvres completes de Voltaire. 68, Histoire du parlement de Paris (2005).

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

The biographical history was compiled using: (1) Material supplied by Professor Renwick. (2) University of Edinburgh journal. Vol.29. No.3. June 1980. p.178. Edinburgh: The University of Edinburgh Graduates' Association, 1980.

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.