Collins , Arthur Jefferies , 1893-1976 , palaeographer

Arthur Jefferies Collins was born on 30 September 1893. He was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a BA in 1915. After serving with the Royal North Devon Hussars during the First World War he became Assistant Keeper at the British Museum in 1919. From 1944 to 1947 he was Keeper of the Manuscripts at the British Museum. He was lecturer in Palaeography to the School of Librarianship at University College London between 1947 and 1955. In 1947 he returned to the British Museum to become the Keeper of Manuscripts and Egerton Librarian. He remained in this post until 1955.