 |
 1887
 1982
 English
 surgeon
A highly respected surgeon in England before his retirement in 1956, Geoffrey Langdon
Keynes is also an admired writer. His biographies and bibliographies of such well-known
figures as William Harvey, Sir Thomas Browne, Rupert Brooke, William Blake, and Dr.
Robert Hooke have been consistently lauded by reviewers and the general public alike.
THE LIFE OF WILLIAM HARVEY, for instance, Keynes's 1967 biography of the physician who
first discovered the circulation of blood through the body, was praised by NEW STATESMAN
writer Christopher Hill as the "undoubtedly . . . definitive biography" of the man. A
reviewer for the TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT likewise commended the work: "[Keynes] has
created not only a vivid picture of the medical, court and social world of the seventeenth
century but has also shown us how the man of science fitted into this world."
A William Blake scholar, Keynes has written numerous works on the English poet and
artist. In a review of A STUDY OF THE ILLUMINATED BOOKS OF WILLIAM BLAKE, Anthony Blunt of the
NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS declared that the author "has written an admirably clear and
concise account" of the various methods Blake used in his illuminated books. NATION's
J.E. Grant held, "In this volume [Keynes] has written a very readable and informative
summary of many matters relating to Blake's art and life." In writing of Keynes's BLAKE
STUDIES, a TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT reviewer assessed, "These studies, as meticulously
detailed as all Sir Geoffrey's editorial and bibliographical work, lay the solid foundation of
knowledge on which the further work of interpretation must build."
Personal Information
Family: Born March 25, 1887, in Cambridge, England; son of John Neville and Ada
Florence (Brown) Keynes; married Margaret Elizabeth Darwin, May 12, 1917 (died, 1974);
children: Richard Darwin, Quentin George, William Milo, Stephen John. Education:
Attended Pembroke College, Oxford, 1906-10; Cambridge University, M.D.
Military/Wartime Service: Royal Army Medical Corps, 1914-18; served as surgical
specialist with British Expeditionary Forces; became major; mentioned in dispatches.
Royal Air Force, 1939-45; served as acting air vice-marshal and senior consulting
surgeon.
Memberships: Royal College of Surgeons (fellow; honorary librarian; member of council,
1944-52), Royal College of Physicians (fellow), Royal Society of Medicine (honorary
fellow), Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (fellow), Royal College of
Surgeons of Canada (fellow), American Association of Surgeons (honorary fellow),
Modern Language Association of America (honorary member), Society of Apothecaries
(honorary freeman), Bibliographical Society of London (former president), Grolier Club
(honorary foreign corresponding member).
Addresses: Home: Lammas House, Brinkley, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 0SB, England.
Awards
Cecil Joll Prize from Royal College of Surgeons, 1953; James Tait Black Memorial Prize,
1966, for THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF JOHN HARVEY; Osler Gold Medal from Royal College of
Physicians, 1968; gold medal from Royal College of Surgeons, 1969; decorated Knight
Bachelor of Order of the British Empire; LL.D. from University of Edinburgh; D.Litt. from
Oxford University, Cambridge University, University of Birmingham, University of
Reading, and University of Sheffield.
Career
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, England, intern, 1910-13, Brackenbury Surgery
Scholar and Willett Medal Operative Surgery Scholar, 1913, Chief assistant, 1920,
surgeon, 1929-56, consulting surgeon, 1956, surgeon emeritus. Consulting surgeon at
New End Endocrine Clinic and City of London Truss Society. Hunterian Professor of Royal
College of Surgeons, 1923, 1929, and 1945; Harveian Orator of Royal College of
Physicians, 1958; Fitzpatrick Lecturer of Royal College of Physicians, 1966; Wilkins
Lecturer of Royal Society, 1967; Osler Orator of Royal College of Physicians, 1968; Sir
Arthur Sims Commonwealth Traveling Professor, 1956. Trustee of National Portrait
Gallery, 1942-66, chairman, 1958-66; founder and chairman of William Blake Trust,
1949; Hunterian Trustee, 1958. Honorary fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford, and at
Darwin College, Cambridge.
Writings by the Author:
- A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORKS OF DR. JOHN DONNE, DEAN OF SAINT PAUL'S, Cambridge University Press, 1914, 4th edition published as A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DR. JOHN DONNE, DEAN OF SAINT PAUL'S, Oxford University Press, 1973.
- THE COMMONPLACE BOOK OF ELIZABETH LYTTLETON, DAUGHTER OF SIR THOMAS BROWNE, Cambridge University Press, 1919.
- A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM BLAKE, Grolier Club (New York), 1921, reprinted, Kraus Reprint, 1969.
- BLOOD TRANSFUSION, Hodder & Stoughton, 1922.
- A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SIR THOMAS BROWNE, KT., M. D., Cambridge University Press, 1924, 2nd edition, Clarendon Press, 1968.
- William Pickering, PUBLISHER: A MEMOIR AND A HAND-LIST OF HIS EDITIONS, Fleuron, 1924, revised edition published as William Pickering, PUBLISHER: A MEMOIR AND A CHECK-LIST OF HIS EDITIONS, B. Franklin, 1969.
- A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OF WILLIAM HARVEY, M. D., DISCOVERER OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD, Cambridge University Press, 1928, 2nd edition published as A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OF DR. WILLIAM HARVEY, 1578-1657, 1953.
- JANE AUSTEN: A BIBLIOGRAPHY, Nonesuch, 1929, reprinted, B. Franklin, 1968.
- A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM HAZLITT, Nonesuch, 1931, reprinted, Folcroft, 1970.
- THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF MALIGNANT DISEASE (monograph), J. Bale, 1935.
- (Author of introduction) A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORKS OF THOMAS FULLER, D. D., edited by Strickland Gibson, Oxford University Press, 1936.
- THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF WILLIAM BLAKE FOR THORNTON'S VIRGIL Nonesuch, 1937.
- JOHN EVELYN: A STUDY IN BIBLIOPHILY AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HIS WRITINGS, Grolier Club (New York), 1937, 2nd edition, Clarendon Press, 1968.
- BLAKE STUDIES: NOTES ON HIS LIFE AND WORKS, Hart-Davis, 1949, 2nd edition published as BLAKE STUDIES: ESSAYS ON HIS LIFE AND WORK, Clarendon Press, 1971.
- THE PERSONALITY OF WILLIAM HARVEY, Cambridge University Press, 1949.
- THE PORTRAITURE OF WILLIAM HARVEY, Royal College of Surgeons, 1949.
- JOHN RAY: A BIBLIOGRAPHY, Faber, 1951, published as THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF JOHN RAY, Milford House, 1973.
- (Author of foreword) William Blake, JERUSALEM, Trianon Press, 1952.
- A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RUPERT BROOKE, Hart-Davis, 1954, 3rd edition, 1964.
- ENGRAVINGS BY WILLIAM BLAKE, THE SEPARATE PLATES: A CATALOGUE RAISONNEE, Emery Walker, 1956.
- (Author of notes and select bibliography) BLAKE, POEMS AND PROPHESIES, edited by Max Plowman, Dutton, 1959.
- A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DR. ROBERT HOOKE, Clarendon Press, 1960.
- A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SIEGFRIED SASSOON, Hart-Davis, 1962.
- DR. TIMOTHIE BRIGHT, 1550-1615: A SURVEY OF HIS LIFE WITH A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HIS WRITINGS, Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1962.
- BIBLIOTHECA BIBLIOGRAPHICI: A CATALOGUE OF THE LIBRARY FORMED BY GEOFFREY KEYNES, Trianon Press, 1964.
- A STUDY OF THE ILLUMINATED BOOKS OF WILLIAM BLAKE, POET, PRINTER, PROPHET, Orion Press, 1964.
- THE LIFE OF WILLIAM HARVEY, Clarendon Press, 1966.
- DRAWINGS OF WILLIAM BLAKE: NINETY-TWO PENCIL STUDIES, Dover, 1970.
Photo: Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine.
|
|
