Vaughan, Richard 1927-

PERSONAL:

Born 1927.

ADDRESSES:

Home—England.

CAREER:

Writer, editor, historian, and educator. North-Holland Medieval Translations, founder and general editor, 1975; Europe in the Middle Ages: Selected Studies, founder and general editor, 1975; Journal of Medieval History, founder and editor, 1975-87. Groningen University, Netherlands, professor of history, 1981-89; Central Michigan University, visiting professor, 1989; University of Hull, England, professor of history and professor emeritus.

WRITINGS:

Matthew Paris, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England), 1958.

Gulls in Britain, H.F. and G. Witherby (England), 1972.

Birds of the Yorkshire Coast, Hendon Publishing, 1974.

(Editor) Post-War Integration in Europe, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1976.

Twentieth-Century Europe: Paths to Unity, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1979.

Arctic Summer: Birds in North Norway, Nelson (Shrewsbury, England), 1979.

Plovers, Dalton (Lavenham, England), 1980.

(Editor and translator) Chronicles of Matthew Paris: Monastic Life in the Thirteenth Century, Alan Sutton (Stroud, England), 1984, revised and illustrated edition published as The Illustrated Chronicles of Matthew Paris: Observations of Thirteenth-Century Life, Alan Sutton and Corpus Christi College (Cambridge, England), 1993.

(Editor, with Louwrens Hacquebord) Between Greenland and America: Cross-Cultural Contacts and the Environment in the Baffin Bay Area, University of Groningen, 1987.

Northwest Greenland: A History, University of Maine Press (Orono, ME), 1991.

In Search of Arctic Birds, illustrated by Gunnar Brusewitz, Poyser (London, England), 1992.

The Arctic, Alan Sutton (Stroud, England), 1994, reprinted, 1999.

Seabird City: A Guide to the Breeding Seabirds of the Flamborough Headland, Smith Settle (Otley, England), 1998.

(With Nancy Vaughan Jennings) The Stone Curlew, Burhinus oedicnemus, Isabelline Books (Falmouth, England), 2005.

"STUDIES OF THE BURGUNDIAN STATE" SERIES

Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State, Longman (London, England), 1962, Boydell & Brewer Press (Suffolk, England), 2002.

John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power, Longman (London, England), 1966, Boydell & Brewer Press (Suffolk, England), 2002.

Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1970, Boydell & Brewer Press (Suffolk, England), 2002.

Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1974, Boydell & Brewer Press (Suffolk, England), 2002.

Valois Burgundy (one-volume, abridged form of Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State, John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power, Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy, and Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy), Archon Books (Hamden, CT), 1975.

Contributor to books, including Biographie Nationale de Belgique, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Documents of Modern History. Contributor of articles on history to scholarly periodicals, including English Historical Review, New Europe, and History Today. Contributor of articles on the arctic to periodicals, including Polar Record, Arctic, and Circumpolar Journal. Contributor of articles on birds to periodicals, including Country Life, Rivista Italiana di Ornitologia, Bird Study, Ardeola, Illustrated London News, Ibis, Birds and Country, Illustrated London News, Animal Panorama, Field, British Birds, Wildlife, and Naturalist.

Contributor of book reviews to numerous periodicals, including Cambridge Review, Journal of Theological Studies, Library, English Historical Review, Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, American Historical Review, Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, Medium Aevum, Revue d'Histoire du Droit, History, Times Higher Educational Supplement, and Journal of Ecclesiastical History.

SIDELIGHTS:

Richard Vaughan is a historian primarily known for his work on the late medieval period in Western Europe. Between 1962 and 1974, Vaughan published a four-volume history of the Valois dukes of Burgundy that has since been reprinted, with new introductions, by Boydell & Brewer Press. C.A.J. Armstrong in the English Historical Review characterized Vaughan's work as "a major achievement in European historiography, … probably no one has produced an equally comprehensive survey of the Bur- gundian power between 1364 and 1477." Robert Lindsay in Library Journal called the series "magisterial," and Times Literary Supplement contributor Maurice Keen deemed it "monumental" and "eminently readable." The histories have also been abridged and made available in a single volume. Rebecca Dixon, writing for Medium Aevum, commented on the "erudite but highly readable and often witty text." Fredric L. Cheyette, in a review for Speculum, observed: "The book is a useful compendium of information and will be easy to consult," but added that "these lists and formal descriptions are in many ways reminiscent of secondary school social-studies textbooks."

Matthew Paris is a history of the thirteenth-century chronicler and was among Vaughan's earliest efforts. It was written as part of the "Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought" under Professor David Knowles and looks at Paris's life as a chronicler, historian, and artist, as well as addressing his other interests. In a review for Classical Philology, Helena M. Gamer wrote: "Vaughan is methodical and painstaking; he surveys critically many earlier studies, considering from all angles old and new, … often with a fresh approach, before he makes his own contributions." Richard A. Newhall, writing for the American Historical Review, remarked: "A medievalist reading this book will experience pleasure somewhat like the chess player watching a championship game. He will enjoy the display of technical skill with which he himself is familiar."

Beyond the histories of Burgundy, Vaughan has written a number of other volumes covering widely differing subjects. In The Arctic, he provides a comprehensive history of that region, including both the early indigenous peoples and the later groups of Europeans whose purpose was to explore and study the area. Glyn Williams, writing for History Today, remarked: "To compress into a single volume the history of the Arctic from the time of the first known human arrivals 12,000 years ago to the present day is a formidable task. Richard Vaughan has succeeded, though not without having to make some compromises and sacrifices." Williams concluded that Vaughan's effort was "written with sensitivity and authority," adding of the book: "Among its many strengths is its incorporation of the most up-to-date sources, in several languages."

Twentieth-Century Europe: Paths to Unity, written long before the creation of the European Union, is a fascinating look at what Vaughan believed to be the nearly impossible task of uniting the nations of Europe into a single, integrated body. He addresses various attempts to unify the nations or parts of Europe, examining their faults and maintaining that only a joining of the economies will allow the countries themselves to function as a single whole. Kenneth R. Nelson, in a review for the History Teacher, remarked: "With the exception of the cumbersome introductory chapter, which traces the early evolution of the idea of European unity, the material … is well organized and readable." He concluded: "The author is to be commended for his impressive mastery of the subject." Michael Hodges, in a review for International Affairs, stated: "The major flaw in the book is that it is so overwhelmed with half-digested facts unsupported by adequate argument and analysis that it is unsuitable for the neophyte, while for the expert it lacks the normal scholarly apparatus of footnotes and bibliography," and F. Roy Willis, writing for American Historical Review, remarked that the "excessive coverage of minor organizations and writers does … distract the reader from the significance of the work of the European Communities."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, October, 1958, Richard A. Newhall, review of Matthew Paris, p. 88; April, 1967, review of John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power, p. 956; June, 1971, Eugene L. Cox, review of Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy, p. 763; June, 1975, Joseph R. Strayer, review of Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy, p. 625; February, 1980, F. Roy Willis, review of Twentieth-Century Europe: Paths to Unity, p. 115.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, January, 1971, review of Philip the Good, p. 156.

Arctic, March, 1993, review of Northwest Greenland: A History, p. 93.

Auk, October, 1993, Fred Cooke, review of In Search of Arctic Birds, p. 961.

Book World, January 5, 1992, review of Northwest Greenland, p. 13.

Booklist, September 15, 1970, review of Philip the Good, p. 79; July 1, 1974, review of Charles the Bold, p. 1177.

Books & Bookmen, June, 1979, reviews of John the Fearless and Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State, p. 63.

British Book News, March, 1983, review of Post-War Integration into Europe, p. 152.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, January, 1967, review of John the Fearless, p. 1071; July, 1970, review of Philip the Good, p. 747; January, 1976, review of Valois Burgundy, p. 1492; June, 1977, review of Post-War Integration in Europe, p. 590; July, 1979, review of Twentieth-Century Europe, p. 725; June, 1992, review of Northwest Greenland, p. 1605.

Classical Philology, October, 1961, Helena M. Gamer, review of Matthew Paris, p. 269.

Economist, February 10, 1979, review of Twentieth- Century Europe, p. 127.

Encounter, August, 1975, review of Valois Burgundy, p. 69.

English Historical Review, July, 1959, F.M. Powicke, review of Matthew Paris, p. 482; July, 1964, C.A.J. Armstrong, review of Philip the Bold, p. 587; October, 1967, P.S. Lewis, review of John the Fearless, p. 829; January, 1972, P.S. Lewis, review of Philip the Good, p. 176; April, 1976, C.A.J. Armstrong, review of Charles the Bold, p. 374; October, 1976, P.S. Lewis, review of Valois Burgundy, p. 902; April, 1996, J.R. Maddicott, review of The Illustrated Chronicles of Matthew Paris: Observations of Thirteenth-Century Life, p. 421.

French Review, April, 1977, Mary Beth W. Marvin, review of Valois Burgundy, p. 788.

History: Review of New Books, November, 1979, review of Twentieth-Century Europe, p. 43.

History Teacher, November, 1979, Kenneth R. Nelson, review of Twentieth-Century Europe, p. 144.

History Today, May, 1970, review of Philip the Good, p. 371; March, 1974, review of Charles the Bold, p. 210; October, 1975, review of Valois Burgundy, p. 719; October, 1994, review of The Illustrated Chronicles of Matthew Paris, p. 47; July, 1995, Glyn Williams, review of The Arctic, p. 58.

International Affairs, July, 1979, Michael Hodges, review of Twentieth-Century Europe, p. 459.

Journal of Modern History, December, 1982, review of Twentieth-Century Europe, p. 772.

Library Journal, July, 1970, review of Philip the Good, p. 2462; June 15, 1974, Robert Lindsay, review of Charles the Bold, p. 1699.

Medium Aevum, fall, 2003, Rebecca Dixon, review of The Dukes of Burgundy, p. 377.

New Scientist, August 27, 1994, Roy Herbert, review of The Arctic, p. 38.

Renaissance Quarterly, summer, 1975, Charity Cannon Willard, review of Charles the Bold, p. 238.

Reprint Bulletin Book Reviews, January, 1980, review of Matthew Paris, p. 25.

Social Studies, November, 1967, review of John the Fearless, p. 275.

Spectator, February 14, 1970, review of Philip the Good, p. 213.

Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, April, 1959, S. Harrison Thomson, review of Matthew Paris, p. 335; July, 1968, Elizabeth A.R. Brown, review of Philip the Bold, p. 544; January, 1977, Howard Kaminsky, review of Charles the Bold, p. 175; October, 1977, Fredric L. Cheyette, review of Valois Burgundy, p. 1066.

Times Literary Supplement, June 6, 1968, review of John the Fearless, p. 573; June 16, 1972, review of Gulls in Britain, p. 697; October 4, 1974, review of Charles the Bold, p. 1091; September 5, 1975, review of Valois Burgundy, p. 1005; January 17, 2003, Maurice Keen, "History" reviews of Philip the Bold, John the Fearless, Philip the Good, and Charles the Bold, p. 28.

University Press Book News, March, 1992, review of Northwest Greenland, p. 17.

Wilson Bulletin, June, 1993, David Freeland Parmelee, review of In Search of Arctic Birds, p. 382.