Geoffrey Faber

British academic, publisher, and poet

Sir Geoffrey Cust Faber (23 August 1889, Great Malvern – 31 March 1961) was a British academic, publisher, and poet. He was a nephew of the noted Catholic convert and hymn writer, Father Frederick William Faber, C.O., founder of the Brompton Oratory.

Life

Faber was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford.^[1] He gained a first in Classical Moderations in 1910 and a first in Literae Humaniores ('Greats') in 1912.^[2] In 1913 he joined the Oxford University Press.

A fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, he was the founding editor of Faber and Gwyer (shortly afterwards Faber and Faber), one of the most celebrated of literary publishing houses.^{[citation needed]}

He was knighted in the 1954 New Years Honours List.^[3]

His grave is located in the churchyard of St. James's Church, Stedham, West Sussex.^{[citation needed]}

Works

Interflow, Poems Mainly Lyrical (1915)
In the Valley of Vision: Poems Written in Time of War (1918)
Elnovia, An Entertainment for Novel Readers (1925)
Oxford Apostles. A Character Study of the Oxford Movement (1933)
A Publisher Speaking (1935)
The Buried Stream: Collected Poems 1908–1940 (1941)
Benjamin Jowett : A Portrait with Background (1957)
Twelve Years (1962), a poem
Modern First Editions: Points and Values

Legacy

William Saroyan wrote a short story about Faber in his 1971 book, Letters from 74 rue Taitbout or Don't Go But If You Must Say Hello To Everybody.

References

^ Pine, L. G., ed., The Author's and Writer's Who's Who, 4th ed., 1960, p. 125
^ Oxford University Calendar 1914, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1914, pp. 198, 210
^ UK list: "No. 40053". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1953. p. 2.