Alec Hyatt King

Alexander Hyatt King, also known as Alec Hyatt King, (18 July 1911 in Beckenham, London – 10 March 1995 in Southwold, Suffolk) was an English musicologist and bibliographer, who was a music librarian of the British Museum and leading scholar on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Education and career

King was educated at Dulwich College and King's College, Cambridge.

He began his career at the British Museum as a cataloguer in February 1934; a post he remained in until December 1944 when he succeeded William Charles Smith as Superintendent of the Music Room. He remained in that position until 1973 when he was named Music Librarian of the Reference Division at the British Library. He also concurrently served as the British Museum's Deputy Keeper of the Department of Printed Books from 1959 until his retirement in 1976.

He held the Sandars Readership in Bibliography in 1961, lecturing on British music collectors.

Hyatt King married art historian Evelyn Davies in 1943 and there were two sons. In the 1950s, they were living at 19, Rudall Crescent, London, NW3. He moved to Southwold in Suffolk for his final years and is buried in Reydon churchyard.