Alfred Nutt
Portrait of Nutt from his obituary in Folk-Lore
Born
Alfred Trübner Nutt

(1856-11-22)22 November 1856
London, England
Died21 May 1910(1910-05-21) (aged 53)
Melun, France
Occupation(s)Publisher, folklorist, scholar
Spouse
Marie Louise Gelly
​
(m. 1885)​
Children2
Parent
RelativesWilliam Miller (Great-grandfather)
Signature

Alfred Trübner Nutt (22 November 1856 – 21 May 1910) was a prominent English publisher, folklorist, and Arthurian and Celtic scholar. Born in 1856 into a literary family in London, he took over his late father's publishing business in 1878 after studying in France and extensive European business apprenticeships.

Nutt made significant contributions to the field of folklore studies, founding The Folk-Lore Journal and presiding over The Folklore Society. His scholarly pursuits included significant research on the Celtic roots of the Grail legend, collaborative efforts with fellow scholars, and involvement in founding the Irish Texts Society. Nutt drowned while attempting to rescue his disabled son from the Seine in 1910.

Biography

Alfred Trübner Nutt was born in London on 22 November 1856, the eldest, and only surviving, son of bookseller and publisher David Nutt. His mother, Ellen, was the granddaughter of another well-known publisher, William Miller.[1] His middle name was inspired by his father's publishing partnership with Nicholas Trübner.[2] Nutt was educated at the University College School, London, and the College de Vitry-le-François, in Vitry-le-François, northeast France.[1]

Nutt spent three years serving a business apprenticeship in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris, before taking over his late father's business in 1878.[1] In 1885, he married Marie Louise Gelly;[3] they had two sons.[2] Nutt was the founder of the The Folk-Lore Journal (later Folk-Lore) and was elected president of The Folklore Society in 1897 and 1898.[2]

Nutt was a friend and supporter of Jessie Weston, sharing her interest in Celtic origins of the Grail legend, and publishing some of her books.[4] He was also associated with Whitley Stokes, Eleanor Hull and Kuno Meyer and his work had a substantial influence on the scholarship of Roger Sherman Loomis.[5] Nutt was also instrumental to the establishment of the Irish Texts Society and his firm produced its early publications.[1]

Nutt produced numerous works of scholarship, including Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail: With Especial Reference to the Hypothesis of Its Celtic Origin,[2] and his collaboration with Meyer on The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal, to the Land of the Living; An Old Irish Saga.[6] He authored analyses of the Mabinogion and was working on an annotated edition of Matthew Arnold's Study of Celtic Literature at the time of his death.[2]

Nutt drowned in the Seine river, France, while on holiday at Melun, on 21 May 1910.[2] He was attempting to rescue his disabled 17-year-old son, who had been dragged into the river when his horse bolted; his son survived.[7] His wife succeeded him as head of the firm.[8]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Murphy, David (October 2009). "Nutt, Alfred Trübner". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Nutt, Alfred Trübner". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35269. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ↑ "BMD Records (Marriages) - Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France". Geneanet. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Brookman, H. E. (2012). "From Romance to Ritual: Jessie L. Weston's Gawain" (PDF). Studies in Medievalism. 21: 119–144 – via King's College London.
  5. ↑ Wood, Juliette (1999). "Folklore Studies at the Celtic Dawn: The Rôle of Alfred Nutt as Publisher and Scholar". Folklore. 110 (1–2): 3–12. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1999.9715976. ISSN 0015-587X.
  6. ↑ Meyer, Kuno (1895). The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal, to the Land of the Living; An Old Irish Saga. London: D. Nutt.
  7. ↑ "Alfred Nutt Drowned: Well-Known London Publisher Dies Trying to Save His Invalid Son" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 May 1920. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  8. ↑ Crawford, Elizabeth (2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. London: Routledge. p. 579. ISBN 978-1-135-43402-1.

Further reading

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