Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Access restrictions apply to designated files under the terms of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (F.E.R.P.A.)

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of Marvin L. Colker, #12785, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisitions

The collection was a gift from Marvin L. Colker to Special Collectionson January 30, 2004; May 4, 2005; January 8, 2007.

Biographical/Historical Information

Marvin Leonard Colker was born on March 19, 1927 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and married Hazel Robinson (a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the Royal Irish Academy of Music) on November 28, 1959. After earning a B. A. in classics, summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh (1948), Colker went to Harvard University for his doctorate (1951). His dissertation was a critical edition of a 12th century Latin epic, the Alexandreisaf Gautier de Chatillon (a poem about the deeds of Alexander the Great). In 1978 he made tremendous revisions to the poem which had been in an inauthentic form based on poor manuscripts.

After two postgraduate fellowships (including a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Paris), Colker joined the faculty of the University of Virginia as instructor of classics (1953), serving as the chairman of the Department of Classics (1963-1968) and becoming a full professor (1967). He also served the University of Dublin in several capacities, including cataloguer of medieval manuscripts and lecture in patristics (1962-1963). He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from Trinity Library, University of Dublin in 1987.

In addition to his edition of Gautier's poem, Colker's publications include Fulcoii Belvacensis Epistolae (1954), Analecta Dublinensia: Three Medieval Latin Texts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin (1975), and America Rediscovered in the Thirteenth Century (1979). He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Medieval Academy of America, a Guggenheim fellow (1973-1974) and held two Fulbright fellowships, which allowed him travel to England and Ireland for research.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of the papers of Marvin L. Colker and is 2,842 items, 7 Hollinger boxes, and 3 linear feet. There is general correspondence of Professor Colker about medieval manuscripts from 1971 to 2006. It is comprised mainly of correspondence with American and European scholars concerned with classical studies and Latin paleography. Also included are computer print outs from his catalog of medieval manuscripts at the Trinity Library, University of Dublin. There are also several manuscripts on the classics including "Fulcoius of Beavais," "Michael of Belluno," and "Six Notes on Gregory the Great," and several book reviews by Dr. Colker. There is also a notebook containing the minutes from meetings of the Washington Society.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically within each folder.