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Levi Arnold Post papers

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-1229

Scope and Contents

Papers of Greek Classicist, Levi Arnold Post, 1889-1971 who spent most of his career teaching and writing at Haverford College as a professor of Greek. Post was a prolific correspondent and most of the collection contains his correspondence, primarily with his peers, though there are some early letters to his mother, as well as letters by his sister, Amy, also to her mother. Renowned for his work on Plato, he was a national authority on Menander, a concentration reflected in his correspondence and prolific writing. He was affiliated with the Loeb Classical Library, including as an officer and wrote extensively for The Classical Weekly and The American Journal of Philology. Post's correspondents include: Benedict Einarson, Tage Ellinger, W. Geoffrey Arnott, Paul Clement, Phillip De Lacy, Ludwig Edelstein, Ilona Ellinger, William Green, Arthur Nock, Arthur Pease, Amy Post, Ira Reid, William Reitzel, Francis Walton and Tatiana Warsher. Among his typescripts and manuscripts are many on the topic of Menander and Menander's Dyscolus, as well as on Plato and Aristotle. His lectures were primarily on Aristotle, Sophocles and Feminism in Greek literature. Off-prints of Post's articles are being considered for Magill Library collections, as well as books and off-prints sent to Post, often signed by their authors.

Dates

  • 1901-1969

Creator

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

This collection is open for research use.

Copyright and Rights Information

Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Archives with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.

Biographical / Historical

Levi Arnold Post was born in 1889, son of Isaac and Mary Arnold Post. He received both his B.A. and M.A. from Haverford College in 1911 as well as an honorary D.Litt. in 1958. He also received an M.A. from Harvard in 1912, a B.A. from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 1916, another M.A. in 1922 and he also studied at the University of Caen in France in 1919. Prior to returning to Haverford to teach, he taught Latin and math at Moses Brown School, 1912-13. He dedicated most of his writing to Plato and Menander. He was long affiliated with the Loeb Classical Library and served as editor of this association from 1940-1967 and was instrumental in the founding and development of the American Philological Association. He served in the U.S. army. L.A. Post died in 1971.

Post, a member of Haverford Monthly Meeting (Quakers), taught at Haverford College for 41 years and retired in 1958. During that period, he served as Professor of Greek, 1933-58, Associate Professor of Greek, 1928-33, Assistant Professor of Greek, 1922-28 and Instructor in Romance Languages & Greek, 1917-22. He received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Haverford College in 1958. He spent one year as Sather professor at U.C.L.A in 1948, which resulted in his book From Homer to Menander. He was an eminent authority on the Greek classics, particularly the works of Plato and Menander, and many of his books and papers have become standard texts in the teaching of Greek. In 1932, he studied in Europe on a Guggenheim Fellowship. Among his books are Thirteen Epistles of Plato; Three Plays of Menander; The Vatican Plato and its Relations; and From Homer to Menander. He married to Grace Lickely in 1919 and had two sons and a daughter: Dr. Robert L. Post, Arnold R. Post and Jenifer Post Goetz. From Friends Journal, August 1/15, 1971, p. 418 and institutional and internal information.

Post's sister, Amy L. Post was an assistant librarian at Haverford College, 1928-1952

Information from: Biographical dictionary of North American classicists / edited by Ward W. Bringgs, Jr. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1994; a listing of Haverford faculty; and internal evidence

Extent

2.7 Linear Feet (11 boxes)

Language

English

Overview

The papers of Greek Classicist, Levi Arnold Post, 1889-1971, who spent most of his career teaching and writing at Haverford College as a professor of Greek. He was a prolific correspondent and most of the collection contains his correspondence, primarily with his peers, though there are some early letters to his mother, as well as letters by his sister, Amy, also to her mother. Known for his work on Plato, he was a scholar of Menander, a concentration reflected in his correspondence and prolific writing. The collection also includes some of his works in typescript and manuscript, as well as some of his lectures.

Arrangement

Processed by Diana Franzusoff Peterson

Custodial History

This collection had no provenance, but presumably came through L. Arnold Post or his family.

Separated Materials

Some printed materials have been added to Magill Library collections.

Processing Information

This collection has been fully processed.

Title
Levi Arnold Post Papers, 1901-1969
Status
Completed
Author
Diana Franzusoff Peterson
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Revision Statements

  • May 2022: by Nathaniel Rehm-Daly, Harmful Language Revision Project

Find It at the Library

Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting reproductions from Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library

Contact:
370 Lancaster Ave
Haverford PA 19041 USA US