E. E. Speight

Ernest Edwin Speight
Ernest Edwin Speight
circa 1930 in India
Born(1871-12-06)6 December 1871
Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Died17 September 1949(1949-09-17) (aged 77)
Ootacamund, India
NationalityEnglish
Other namesE E Speight
Occupation(s)Professor of English, author
Known forLexicography, educationalist, philosopher, poet, anthropologist,[1] Publisher[2][3]

Ernest Edwin Speight (6 December 1871 – 17 September 1949), usually known as E E Speight, was a Yorkshireman who travelled in Japan and India and was a professor of English for twenty years at the Imperial University, Tokyo, Japan and also at the Fourth Higher School, Kanazawa,[4] then for a further twenty years at the Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. In India he made a study of the Nilgiri hill tribes and was working on a Toda grammar at his death[1][5]

In Speight's youth he was a friend of W. B. Yeats, A. E. Housman and George Bernard Shaw, in his latter years of Tagore, Aurobindo, Mohandas K Gandhi, and Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark for whom he reviewed some of his writings.[1][5]

In addition to teaching, Speight wrote a substantial number of English textbooks, some of which remain in use in the 21st-century English syllabus in India.[6] Speight also wrote fiction, poetry, music, and edited anthologies.

With his business partner R. H. Walpole, Speight issued The Saracen's Head Library (Mary Kingsley Travel Books) book series published by the E. E. Speight & R. H. Walpole publishing house based in Teignmouth, in Devon.[2][3][7]

  1. ^ a b c Walsh, R R (15 April 1953). "Ernest Speight – A Portrait". The Sunday Statesman. During his retirement he lived alone, devoting himself to the care of his fascinating library and extensive collection of Japanese art treasures and antiques. and the study of the language and customs and mythology of the Nilgiri hill tribes, the Badagas. He was compiling a Toda grammar when he died
  2. ^ a b "The Saracen's Head Library" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 December 1903. Retrieved 26 May 2010. A new library of books for collectors, to be entitled The Saracen's Head Library, is about to be published by Ernest Speight and Reginald Horace Walpole
  3. ^ a b "Notes". The Star. New Zealand. 10 February 1904. p. 4. Retrieved 26 May 2010. Mr Ernest Speight and Mr Reginald Horace Walpole of Teignmouth ... are about to commence the publication of finely produced books for collectors, to be entitled 'The Saracen's Head Library'
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference gazette was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Peter, Prince of Greece and Denmark (20 April 1953). "Memories of Ernest Speight". The Statesman. On September 17 at 8 am he had the second heart attack, which killed him ... I went over to Mount Stewart to put seals on his lonely dwelling with the manager of the local branch of the Imperial Bank of India
  6. ^ Loathta, A K (10 April 2004). "An Ode to Primer English". The Tribune. Chandigarh, India. Retrieved 27 May 2010. A larger part of English syllabus for classes below BA and BSc should be that of primer English. Equal attention should be paid to grammar as well. Syllabus in lower classes should be such that every student must have studied in detail J. C. Nesfield, Wren and Martin, Roger Fowler, E. E. Speight, T. L. H. Smith Pearse, F. T. Wood, Hugh Jarrett, Randolph Quirk and E. R. Ram Kumar by the time he or she passes the class XII examination.
  7. ^ The Mary Kingsley Travel Books, worldcat.org. Retrieved 7 February 2023.