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The University of Iowa Libraries

Special Collections and University Archives

Finding Aid

Papers of Roger Hornsby
RG 99.0045
Collection Dates: 1942-2009; bulk, 1956-2009
30.0 linear ft.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department.

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Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.

Acquisition and Processing Information: The Papers of Roger Hornsby were transferred to the University Archives as Accessions 2002-60, 2004-37, and 2011-49. Finding aid completed June 2011.

Photographs: None

Roger Hornsby, 1960
Roger Hornsby, 1960


Scope and Contents

The papers of Roger Hornsby consist of personal and professional correspondence, lecture notes, essays, and book manuscripts. Also included are dinner party records and correspondence written by and received by his spouse, Jessie Lynn Gillespie Hornsby (1917-1993).


Biographical Note

Roger Allen Hornsby (1926-2009) received his B.A. degree at Adelbert College of Western Reserve University in 1949 and his A.M. and Ph.D. degrees at Princeton University in 1951 and 1952, respectively. He served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954. On June 8, 1960 he married Jessica (Jessie) Lynn Gillespie, a professor of French at the University of Iowa.

Roger Hornsby joined the University of Iowa faculty in 1954. He served as chair of the Department of Classics from 1966 to 1981. During his career he was also active in numerous regional and national professional organizations. He was president of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS) in 1968-1969, and on the board of directors of the American Philological Association from 1974-1977. He was a trustee of the American Academy in Rome, a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, a trustee of the Vergilian Society, and served on the council of the American Numismatic Society. After his retirement he was named the Whichard Distinguished Professor at East Carolina University in 1997-1998.

Professor Hornsby had wide interests in the study of the ancient world and the teaching of the languages it spoke. His publications focused on Latin poetry and included Reading Latin Poetry (1967), Patterns of Action in the Aeneid (1970), and numerous articles and reviews in professional journals.

Roger Hornsby was born in Nye, Wisconsin on August 8, 1926, and died in Iowa City, Iowa, on October 20, 2009.


Related Materials

Folder, "Hornsby, Jessica L. Gillespie and Roger A." Faculty and Staff Vertical Files collection (RG 01.15.03)

Records of the Department of Classics (RG 06.10)



Box Contents List

Box 1

Correspondence. A-Z

----. American Philological Association

----. American Numismatic Society

Box 2

Greek:

Notes on Homer, Plato, Pindar

Papers from Graduate School

Exercises for Euthyphro, Alcestis

Academic career and retirement

CAMWS, 1969

Box 3

Essays: various

Lectures and essays on: Vergil's Aeneid and manuscript of commentary on Aeneid XII

Box 4

Academic career, including Roll Books

Vergil: lectures and notes on Aeneid; essays on Aeneid, Georgics, Eclognes

Box 5

Correspondence with Jessie and Mother

----. 1942, 1956-1969

Box 6

Correspondence. 1970-1979

Box 7

Correspondence. 1980-1984

Box 8

Correspondence. 1985-1988

Box 9

Correspondence. 1989-1991

Box 10

Correspondence. 1992-1994

Box 11

Correspondence. 1995-1997

Box 12

Correspondence. 1998-2000

Box 13

Correspondence. 2002-2005

Box 14

Correspondence. 2006-2009

Box 15

Personal correspondence and other documents, including those from Jessie Gillespie Hornsby and her family

Box 16

----. Includes dinner party records of guest lists, menus and wine lists, 1966-1990 (four binders)

Box 17

Book manuscripts:

The Building of Ancient Rome, with correspondence to and from publishers (in box)

Correspondence about Reading Latin Poetry (folder)

Correspondence about Patterns of Action in the Aeneid (folder)

Boxes 18-20

Latin pedagogical materials:

Seligson-Hornsby Latin II course

Line by line commentary on Cicero Orations

Line by line commentary/teaching materials on Aeneid

Commentary on Ovid, Metamorphoses I

Lecture notes on Latin authors