Agnes Latham

Agnes Mary Christabel Latham (31 January 1905 – 13 January 1996) was a British academic and Reader in English at Bedford College. She is remembered for her lifelong project of editing the letters of Sir Walter Raleigh and for her edition of As You Like It for the Arden Shakespeare.

Early life Latham was the middle of three daughters of Harry Latham and Francis Marian Latham. She studied at Wakefield Girls' High School, and later received a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford. She graduated with a first class English Literature and Language degree in 1996.

Career In 1929 she published her edition of the poems of Sir Walter Raleigh. Her research was completed within a year, funded by a grant from Wakefield Girls' High School.

Latham is perhaps best known for her edition of As You Like It for the Arden Shakespeare which was published subsequent to her retirement in 1975. It was considered "impressive not only for its weight of scholarly insight but also for its careful consideration of the readers need to be persuaded to share her prestigious knowledge of the Renaissance period and its values the better to appreciate the power of the text as drama".

Personal life Latham was friends with the novelist Bryher during World War II. She joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in her late twenties as it was the only way for her to see certain films in Russian and German.

Publications

Shakespeare, William, ed. Angles Latham, As you like it: The Arden Shakespeare. Methuem publishing, 22 May 1975 Latham, Agnes M. C. Sir Walter Ralegh. London: Longmans, Green, 1964 Raleigh, Walter, and Agnes Mary Christabel. LATHAM. The Poems of Sir Walter Ralegh. Edited with an introduction by Agnes M.C. Latham. Pp. lxiii. 182. *Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1951 Ralegh, Walter, and Agnes M. C. Latham. Selected Prose and Poetry. University of London: Athlone Press, 1965 Raleigh, Walter, Agnes M. C. Latham, and Joyce A. Youings. The letters of Sir Walter Ralegh. Exeter: U of Exeter Press, 1999 Raleigh, Walter ed. Latham, Agnes. The poems. Constable, London 1929