A Staircase in Surrey
Encyclopedia
A Staircase in Surrey is a sequence of five novel
s by
Scottish
novelist and academic J. I. M. Stewart
(1906–1994), and published between 1974 and 1978. The title refers to student accommodation in an imaginary Oxford
college. (A staircase, in the more traditionally designed colleges, would identify a group of students' rooms, leading off a quadrangle
.)
Duncan Patullo.
In The Gaudy he returns to his old college, after a long absence, and encounters a number of old friends, including Albert Talbert, his former tutor, Lord Marchpayne, a once-close friend with whom he has lost touch, and fellow Scot Ranald McKechnie, now a lecturer at the college. McKechnie's wife, Janet, is Duncan's first love.
The second novel, Young Patullo, tells the story of their former relationships and Patullo's undergraduate career. Fantasy writer and Oxford don J. R. R. Tolkien
appears as the elderly "Professor Timberlake" in this novel.
In The Madonna of the Astrolabe Patullo copes with his ex-wife, the undergraduates' production of Tamburlaine
, and the problems of raising enough money for the urgently-needed restoration of the crumbling Great Tower. The discovery of a lost masterpiece by Piero della Francesca
proves crucial to the college's future fortunes, and Patullo is able to help when it is stolen.
The character of the provost of the college is said to have been based on that of Henry Chadwick
, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
during Stewart's own time there.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s by
Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
novelist and academic J. I. M. Stewart
J. I. M. Stewart
John Innes Mackintosh Stewart was a Scottish novelist and academic. He is equally well-known for the works of literary criticism and contemporary novels published under his real name and for the crime fiction published under the pseudonym of Michael Innes...
(1906–1994), and published between 1974 and 1978. The title refers to student accommodation in an imaginary Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
college. (A staircase, in the more traditionally designed colleges, would identify a group of students' rooms, leading off a quadrangle
Quadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
.)
The series
The books, in order of publication, are:- The Gaudy
- Young Patullo
- A Memorial Service
- The Madonna of the Astrolabe
- Full Term
Plot
The narrator and central character is playwrightPlaywright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Duncan Patullo.
In The Gaudy he returns to his old college, after a long absence, and encounters a number of old friends, including Albert Talbert, his former tutor, Lord Marchpayne, a once-close friend with whom he has lost touch, and fellow Scot Ranald McKechnie, now a lecturer at the college. McKechnie's wife, Janet, is Duncan's first love.
The second novel, Young Patullo, tells the story of their former relationships and Patullo's undergraduate career. Fantasy writer and Oxford don J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
appears as the elderly "Professor Timberlake" in this novel.
In The Madonna of the Astrolabe Patullo copes with his ex-wife, the undergraduates' production of Tamburlaine
Tamburlaine (play)
Tamburlaine the Great is the name of a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. It is loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor, Timur 'the lame'...
, and the problems of raising enough money for the urgently-needed restoration of the crumbling Great Tower. The discovery of a lost masterpiece by Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca was a painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its...
proves crucial to the college's future fortunes, and Patullo is able to help when it is stolen.
The character of the provost of the college is said to have been based on that of Henry Chadwick
Henry Chadwick (theologian)
Henry Chadwick KBE was a British academic and Church of England clergyman. A former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford — and as such also head of Christ Church, Oxford — he also served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, becoming the first person in four centuries to have headed a college at...
, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
during Stewart's own time there.