Ethical Studies [Second Edition]

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1927. 2nd Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. Vii, 344 Pp. Dark Green Cloth, Gilt. Second Edition Stated, 1927. Gilt Brilliant, Cloth Worn At Corners With A Little Fraying. Ownership Signature And Extensive Marginalia Dated At Christ Church College In 1932 [Of Particular Interest] By Bentley Powell Conyers Bridgewater,1911-1996, Secretary Of The British Museum 1948-73. Sources Indicate That Bentley Bridgewater Was Considered By Many To Be The Incarnation Of British Museum Man: Civilized, Urbane, Articulate, A Member Of The Athenaeum. Sir John Wolfenden Admired Him As A Walking Encyclopedia Of The Museum, Its Personalities, History, Traditions And Mythologies Which He Related With Almost Continental Fluency. Bridgewater Spent His Entire Working Life There, Except For His Wartime Service At Bletchley Park, And Was Its Secretary For 25 Years, From 1948 To 1973. For Many Years Bridgewater's Tall, Dark, Distinguished, Slightly Portly, Figure Would Be Seen Walking The Museum's Corridors, The Streets Of Bloomsbury (Where He Lived For 45 Years) And The West And East Ends Of London. Outwardly He Embodied The Establishment And Maintained A Position Of Unassailable Respectability. But Behind This Facade His Life Moved In Other Quarters, Bringing Him Into Contact With Many Surprising Elements Of English Society. Bridgewater Was A King's Scholar At Westminster School And A Scholar Of Christ Church, Oxford, Where He Read Philosophy, Politics And Economics. He Joined The Secretary's Office Of The British Museum In 1937 As An Assistant Keeper And Was Appointed Assistant Secretary In 1940. Bridgewater's Time At Bletchley Park Was Not Only Involved In Code-Breaking. It Was There That He Formed The Closest Friendship Of His Early Manhood With Angus Wilson, The Novelist, Who At That Time Was A Colleague In The British Museum Reading Room. It Was A Tempestuous Relationship In Which Bridgewater Steered Wilson Through A Sequence Of Severe Mental Crises From Which Grew His Gift As A Writer Of Short Stories. They Remained Lifelong Friends. Bridgewater Was A Major Source For Margaret Drabble's Recent Biography Angus Wilson (1995). Unlike Most Of His Friends He Was Neither A Scholar Nor A Collector. He Recognized The Quality Of An Object Or The Success Of A Room But He Exercised Wilful Anti-Aestheticism In His Own Surroundings. In His Personal Life He Had A Sympathetic Gift For Friendship And Included People (Mainly Men) Of All Walks Of Life; But He Was Happiest With The Upper And Lower Classes And Looked Glazed With The Rest. Bridgewater Was A Black And White Character; He Had Few Grey Areas. One Side Was Selfish, Self-Centred And Dismissive; Few Had A Greater Propensity For Schadenfreude; He Rarely Kept Confidences. The Other Was Generous To The Point Of Self- Sacrifice; He Freely Lent Money To Friends In Need; Was An Unremitting Hospital Visitor; He Never Abandoned Those Who Were Down On Their Luck; He Championed The Underdog; He Had Great Patience With Personal Difficulties; Was A Wonderful Host Who Understood Food And Wine; And He Was Kind And Attentive To The Old. He Could Infuriate As Easily As He Could Charm. Additional Very Old Ownership Signature Of W. T. Jones At Oriel College, Oxford, Undated.