Sydney Castle Roberts

Sir Sydney Castle Roberts (1887–1966) was a well-known and popular figure around Cambridge throughout his life,^[1] and was recognised as a publisher of skill and distinction.^[2]

Roberts was born in Birkenhead on 3 April 1887. He attended Brighton College and Pembroke College, Cambridge.^[3] He was Secretary of Cambridge University Press from 1922 to 1948, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge from 1948 to 1958, Vice-Chancellor of University of Cambridge from 1949 to 1951, and Chairman of the British Film Institute from 1952 to 1956. He was an author, publisher and biographer and a noted Sherlockian, being president^[4] of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. According to Jon Lellenberg, Roberts is responsible for the popularization of the Sherlockian game of criticism.^[5] He was conferred the Honour of Knighthood in 1958^[6]

Three portraits of S. C. Roberts, 1949, by Elliott & Fry, can be found in the National Portrait Gallery, London.^[7]

Family

Roberts was stepfather to Hugh Swann,^[8] cabinet maker to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and Michael Swann, former chairman of the BBC.

Publications

1. A Picture Book of British History; Cambridge University Press, 1914
2. The Story of Doctor Johnson: being an introduction to Boswell's Life; Cambridge University Press, 1919
3. A History of the Cambridge University Press 1521–1921; Cambridge University Press, 1921
4. Doctor Johnson In Cambridge: Essays In Boswellian Imitation; Putnam, 1922
5. Lord Macaulay: The Pre-eminent Victorian; Oxford University Press, 1927
6. The charm of Cambridge; A & C Black, 1927
7. An Eighteenth-century Gentleman and other essays; Cambridge University Press, 1930
8. Doctor Watson: Prolegomena to the study of a biographical problem; Faber & Faber, 1931
9. Introduction to Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1934
10. Pembroke College, Cambridge: a short history; Cambridge University Press, 1936
11. Zuleika in Cambridge; Heffer & Sons, 1941
12. Springs Of Hellas And Other Essays, with Memoir by S.C. Roberts, Cambridge University Press, 1945
13. British Universities (Britain in Pictures); Collins, 1947
14. The Sir Walter Scott Lectures for 1948; Oliver and Boyd, 1948
15. Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories: with an introduction by S C Roberts, Oxford University Press, 1951
16. Holmes & Watson: A Miscellany (Otto Penzler's Sherlock Holmes Library); Oxford University Press, 1953
17. Samuel Johnson; Longmans, 1954
18. The Evolution of Cambridge Publishing; Cambridge University Press, 1956
19. Doctor Johnson, and others; Cambridge University Press, 1958
20. Edwardian Retrospect; UK English Association, 1963
21. Adventures with Authors; Cambridge University Press, 1966
22. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Megatherium Thefts, Penguin Books 1985

References