Sydney Castle Roberts

Sir Sydney Castle Roberts (1887–1966) was a well-known and popular figure around Cambridge throughout his life,^[1] and was recognised as a publisher of skill and distinction.^[2]

Roberts was born in Birkenhead on 3 April 1887. He attended Brighton College and Pembroke College, Cambridge.^[3] During the first world war he served as Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment. He was Secretary of Cambridge University Press from 1922 to 1948, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge from 1948 to 1958, Vice-Chancellor of University of Cambridge from 1949 to 1951, and Chairman of the British Film Institute from 1952 to 1956. He was an author, publisher and biographer and a noted Sherlockian, being president^[4] of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. According to Jon Lellenberg, Roberts is responsible for the popularization of the Sherlockian game of criticism.^[5] He was conferred the Honour of Knighthood in 1958^[6]

Three portraits of S. C. Roberts, 1949, by Elliott & Fry, can be found in the National Portrait Gallery, London.^[7]

Family

Roberts was stepfather to Hugh Swann,^[8] cabinet maker to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and Michael Swann, former chairman of the BBC.

Publications

1. A Picture Book of British History; Cambridge University Press, 1914
2. The Story of Doctor Johnson: being an introduction to Boswell's Life; Cambridge University Press, 1919
3. A History of the Cambridge University Press 1521–1921; Cambridge University Press, 1921
4. Doctor Johnson In Cambridge: Essays In Boswellian Imitation; Putnam, 1922
5. Lord Macaulay: The Pre-eminent Victorian; Oxford University Press, 1927
6. The charm of Cambridge; A & C Black, 1927
7. An Eighteenth-century Gentleman and other essays; Cambridge University Press, 1930
8. Doctor Watson: Prolegomena to the study of a biographical problem; Faber & Faber, 1931
9. Introduction to Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1934
10. Pembroke College, Cambridge: a short history; Cambridge University Press, 1936
11. Zuleika in Cambridge; Heffer & Sons, 1941
12. Springs Of Hellas And Other Essays, with Memoir by S.C. Roberts, Cambridge University Press, 1945
13. British Universities (Britain in Pictures); Collins, 1947
14. The Sir Walter Scott Lectures for 1948; Oliver and Boyd, 1948
15. Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories: with an introduction by S C Roberts, Oxford University Press, 1951
16. Holmes & Watson: A Miscellany (Otto Penzler's Sherlock Holmes Library); Oxford University Press, 1953
17. Samuel Johnson; Longmans, 1954
18. The Evolution of Cambridge Publishing; Cambridge University Press, 1956
19. Doctor Johnson, and others; Cambridge University Press, 1958
20. Edwardian Retrospect; UK English Association, 1963
21. Adventures with Authors; Cambridge University Press, 1966
22. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Megatherium Thefts, Penguin Books 1985

References

1. Zuleika in Cambridge, Oleander Press; 2009.
2. Adventures with Authors, Cambridge University Press; 2010.
3. Heritage Press Sandglass Companion Book: 1960-1983 by Michael C. Bussacco, p. 214, at Google Books
4. Letter from Christopher Morley to Sydney Castle Roberts, president of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London
5. "The Ronald Knox Myth"
6. Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 January 1958, p. 2.
7. National Portrait Gallery.Sir Sydney Castle Roberts
8. Tim Swann, The Times, 21 July 2007.