Esmond de Beer (1895-1990): Scholar and Benefactor: A Personal Memoir

1995

Special Collections DA3 D42 SW32

Norwich, [England]: Michael Russell

Esmond de Beer greatly admired J.C. Beaglehole’s work on The Journals of Captain James Cook, another significant publication by the Hakluyt Society. De Beer and his two sisters, Dora and Mary, contributed to the publication costs of Beaglehole’s entire work (1955-1974). Indeed, if it was not for their quiet determination and generosity, these landmark volumes might never have been published. De Beer’s generosity did not stop there. He gave £4000 towards the publication costs of the first volume of Andrew David’s The Charts and Coastal Views of Captain Cook’s Voyages (1988), and left to the Society in his will a further £4000. Here is a young Esmond, and his two sisters.