E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Melissa Er-Raqabi,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
John Meade Falkner was a remarkable character, as he was not only ascholar and a writer, but a captain of industry as well. Born in 1858,the son of a clergyman in Wiltshire, he was educated at Marlborough andHertford College, Oxford. On leaving the university, he became tutor tothe sons of Sir Andrew Noble, then vice-chairman of theArmstrong-Whitworth Company; and his ability so much impressed hisemployer that in 1885 he was offered a post in the firm. Withoutconnections or influence in industrial circles, and solely by hisintellect, he rose to be a director in 1901, and finally, in 1915,chairman of this enormous business. He was actually chairman during theimportant years 1915-1920, and remained a director until 1926.
His intellectual energy was so great that throughout his life he foundtime for scholarship as well as business. He travelled for his firm inEurope and South America; and in the intervals of negotiating withforeign governments studied manuscripts wherever he found a library. Hisresearches in the Vatican Library were of special importance, and inconnection with them he received a gold medal from the Pope; he was alsodecorated by the Italian, Turkish and Japanese governments.
His scholastic interests included archæology, folklore, palæography,mediæval history, architecture and church music; and he was a collectorof missals. Towards the end of his life he was made an Honorary Fellowof Hertford College, Oxford, Honorary Reader in Palæography to DurhamUniversity, and Honorary Librarian to the Chapter Library of DurhamCathedral, which he left one of the best cathedral libraries in Europe.He died at Durham in 1932.
Apart from The Lost Stradivarius, Falkner was the author of two othernovels, The Nebuly Coat (1903—also published in Penguin Books) andMoonfleet (1898). He also wrote a History of Oxfordshire, handbooks tothat county and to Berkshire, historical short stories, and somemediævalist verse.
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