J Rendel Harris Papers

This material is held atClare College Archives, University of Cambridge

  • Reference
    • GB 1114 CCPP/HAS
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1898-1955 (1898-1927, 1955)
  • Name of Creator
  • Physical Description
    • 2 files, 1 trunk paper

Scope and Content

Letters written by Harris to the Rev. W.E. Plater and various offprints

Administrative / Biographical History

J Rendel Harris (1852-1941) was one of the most prolific and influential New Testament scholars of his time and was responsible for bringing to light hitherto lost early Christian writings and gathered major collections of Syriac manuscripts and Greek papyri, especially the Syriac Bible. It was Dr. Harris who provided Dr. Agnes Smith Lewis and her sister Margaret Dunlop Gibson (twin sisters in Cambridge with interest in ancient Syriac writings) with the contacts in Egypt that enabled them to visit the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mt. Sinai. This collaboration led to the discovery of the Sinaitic Palimpsest. Dr. Harris matriculated at Clare College, Cambridge in 1870 and he became a fellow in mathematics in 1875-78, 1892, and in 1902-04. He was also Librarian from 1898-1902.

Related Material

See reports on Library by Harris at CCAD/1/2/6