To celebrate our 125th anniversary this year, we are taking the opportunity to highlight and thank a selection of key figures in LUP’s recent history. The next post in this series has been written by our Senior Commissioning Editor Clare Litt, who has taken the opportunity to reflect on Mary Whitby’s impact on LUP, and on the work of countless historians, for almost four decades.
Liverpool University Press greatly benefits from the stalwart efforts of our many series editors; perhaps none embodies the all-round diplomat, combining determination to steer the ship forward with scholarly rigor as much as Mary Whitby, who has been Senior General Editor of Translated Texts for Historians (TTH) for over twenty years, and on the series’ editorial committee for the best part of two decades before that.
Her co-General Editor Gillian Clark, Professor Emerita of Classics & Ancient History at the University of Bristol, recalls the early days: ‘Mary’s involvement with TTH goes back almost to the beginning: not the very earliest days, when TTH consisted of John Davies, Margaret Gibson, visions of future books, and the patient support of Robin Bloxsidge at LUP, but Margaret coopted her to the Editorial Committee in the mid-80s.’
Mary with her meticulous organisational skills set about shepherding a growing number of projects (TTH by the end of 2024 will consist of 86 published volumes and counting). The ‘little ships’, Margaret Gibson’s phrase, oft quoted, started out as a flotilla, with Mary’s sights firmly set on expansion.
This was not achieved without effort. Her other co-General Editor Mark Humphries, Professor of Classics at Swansea University, comments: ‘I’ve known Mary Whitby for more than thirty years. I’ve been repeatedly astounded and impressed at how much Mary gives of herself to the series. She cares deeply about it and its reputation for the highest scholarly standards: among both the editorial committee and countless TTH authors, she is famed for her kindness, sensitivity, and diplomacy. To describe her as a general editor barely captures the character of all that she does for the series. She is its guiding spirit and patron saint, and the strength of the series today attests to the decades of tireless work and attention she has devoted to all things TTH.’
Longevity is also a feature remarked on by Gillian Clark: ‘In all those years TTH has benefited from her exceptional range of friendships, her unique combination of tact and firmness, and her commitment in keeping track of so many projects and people. (She is of course a cat person and a qualified cat-herder.)’
In recent years, TTH has made efforts to diversify its range, looking eastwards, to encompass Arabic, Middle Persian, Mandaic texts and more. Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina, who is Bahari Associate Professor of Sasanian Studies at the University of Oxford explains Mary’s role in this development: ‘My acquaintance with Mary goes back to 2018 when I was recruited to join the Editorial Committee for TTH. I was immediately struck by two characteristics of Mary. Mary is equal parts broad-minded and humble and these increasingly rare qualities in an editor of her standing and experience have truly allowed TTH to grow, innovate, and blaze new trails in the increasingly crowded marketplace of ideas that constitute the rigorous and source-based study of Late Antiquity. I can think of no other Byzantinist who would be willing to have their first forays into the Iranian world be the commissioning and timely publication of brilliant new works on the always enigmatic Mandaeans and the often understudied Zoroastrians. Her unfailing commitment to expanding the eastward scope of TTH will undoubtedly result in a brilliant series of publications in the years to follow.’
Phil Booth who is A. G. Leventis Associate Professor in Eastern Christianity at the University of Oxford also comments on this as well as the work that takes place ‘behind the curtain’: ‘TTH is a hallowed series in late antique studies, and each new translation and commentary transforms how a text is perceived and used. But I do not think many late antiquists understand how much the series depends upon the quiet dedication and industry of Mary. I joined the editorial committee a decade ago, and only then did I understand the huge effort which she expends on encouraging and guiding new proposals, keeping track of existing projects, and tirelessly checking and editing submitted translations and commentaries. It is Mary’s commitment which has maintained the exceptional academic standards of the series, and her vision which has meant that it has evolved along with the discipline, so that Arabic and Pahlavi texts now sit comfortably beside those in Greek and Latin.’
Mary is of course a highly-regarded scholar in her own right, as Professor Dame Averil Cameron, former Warden of Keble College, Oxford and formerly Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine History at King’s College London notes: ‘The spectacular success of the TTH series could not have been achieved without the selfless commitment of Mary Whitby as editor and chief talent scout over very many years. As a member of the editorial committee I marvel every year at her ability to survey work being done or not done over the whole field and the meticulous lists she produces of volumes in progress, commissioned and hoped for. One can only admire the patience, care and skill she puts into the published volumes, at times including having to convey unwelcome comments. Her own scholarly work is equally impressive. My first encounter with Mary was in the context of our shared research interest in sixth- and seventh-century Byzantine literature and her translation of the early seventh-century historian Theophylact Simocatta and her TTH volume on the Chronicon Paschale (both with Michael Whitby) were landmarks. There have been more edited volumes since, but above all a steady stream of key contributions to the study of late antique Greek poetry and especially the works of George of Pisidia. Her gardening and her cooking are famous and her learning sits lightly. But not many others could equal it.’
Diplomat, guiding spirit, patron saint, talent scout, scholar, cat herder, gardener, cook… Mary’s skills are many and varied. Under her leadership the flotilla has become a fleet. Historians are in her debt.
In celebration of Mary Whitby’s contribution to LUP, we have made The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire, translated with introduction and commentary by Charles Häberl, free to read for a limited period. This title was the first Mandean text in the Translated Texts for Historians series and well represents Mary’s unfailing commitment to expanding the eastward scope of the series.
Access the ebook for free on the LUP website >
Follow us for more updates
Sign up to our mailing list
Twitter | Instagram
www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk
Liverpool University Press Blog 