Born in 1867, Reginald Brimley Johnson matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1886. He had a prolific career as a literary, critic, author, and editor. In 1900 he established his own press in Edinburgh and London.His "The Cambridge Colleges" was first published in 1903 and was republished many times over the next two decades. In its pages Johnson draws from the classic texts including Fuller's The History of the University of Cambridge, as well as Willis' The Architectural History of the University of Cambridge. These he supplements with his own first-hand knowledge of late nineteenth-century Cambridge, telling the dramatic story of how an institution occupied in deep religious turmoil from birth came to be strengthened with the Dissolution of the Monasteries and gain the favour of kings and queens, to survive the religious reformations to present day magnificence.While ostensibly impartial, his narrative reveals opinions on subjects ranging from the foundation of the women's colleges to the destruction of old college architecture, painting an invaluable picture of the time, and intimating a portrait of a Cambridge man.This new edition from Vernon Library makes the original text available to the interested public and scholars. We are enthusiasts for our work and do not use scans or OCR. Each page is properly typed, set, and proofed to give you a top-notch resource.
About the Author: Reginald Brimley Johnson, born 1867, was a literary critic, editor, author, and publisher. Educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he specialised in nineteenth century novelists, editing and providing introductions for many collections of such works including, notably, those of Jane Austen. Johnson was a busy man around the turn of the century, finding himself advantageously positioned among the literary intelligentsia of the age. 1899 would have been his annus mirabilis but was marred by tragedy. The year in which he laid the foundation for the publishing enterprise that directed his later years also saw his fiance Gertrude Blogg, secretary to Rudyard Kipling, killed in a fatal road accident. His own own letters of 1899 impelled G. K. Chesterton to write his first works which formed "The Wild Knight" and "Greybeards at Play," the latter of which Johnson formed his press to himself publish the very next year. Johnson remained in close contact with Chesterton until at-least 1928. Johnson eventually married in 1902, and produced a vast quantity of material over the next thirty years. His arguably most important work, Shelley-Leigh Hunt, on the topic of that literary acquaintance, was only published in 1928. He died in London in 1932, aged 65.