Finding aid for the Neville Rogers papers

Biography of Neville Rogers

Neville Rogers was an authority on Percy Shelley and a professor at Ohio University. Rogers was born in London, England, on 5 January 1908. He attended Rossal School and Birkbeck College, and graduated with honors in the classics. He served as Headmaster or Assistant Master at various preparatory schools in England, positions that were interrupted from 1941-1946, when he served in the Royal Air Force Intelligence Service. After the war, Rogers worked with The Times Literary Supplement on their work on promoting Italian literature in England. This brought him into contact with the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association. He edited the book Keats, Shelley and Rome for the association. Encouraged by the poet Edmund Blunden, he wrote a few articles on the latest available manuscripts of Shelley. The Claredon Press took notice, and asked him to expand one of the articles into a book Shelley at Work, 1956) and edit a definitive text of Shelley's poetry (to be the Oxford English Texts (OET) The Complete Poetical Works of Shelley.) To gain the money and time needed to write this series and other books, Rogers sought a professorship in the United States. After guest lecturing at several American universities, he gained a position at Ohio University as a guest lecturer, and then eventually became a full professor in 1966. Rogers continued this teaching beyond retirement, working as a part-time professor while continuing work on the OET Shelley. Although originally slated for four volumes then later enlarged to five, only two volumes of the OET Shelley were completed. Rogers finished the third volume only to never see it published. Disagreements arose over the completion of the series, and The Claredon Press canceled the project. In 1985, four months after Rogers sent out a letter to his friends explaining the termination of his work, he died of natural causes in Athens, Ohio.

Scope and Content

The Neville Rogers papers span from 1861 to 1985 and document Rogers's personal and professional life. The bulk relates to his research and authorship of the Oxford English Texts The Complete Poetical Works of Shelley. The collection is organized into nine series: 1. Manuscripts; 2. Notes and Notebooks; 3. Letters and Correspondence; 4. Legal and Financial; 5. Printed Materials; 6. Special Media; 7. Scrapbooks and Diaries; 8. Special Material; and 9. Books. A paper folder list is available.

Statement of Arrangement

Subject Terms

The following terms have been used to describe this collection.

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Preferred Citation

Researchers are requested to cite collection name, collection number, and Ohio University, Athens, Ohio in all footnotes and bibliographical references.

Detailed Description of The Collection