R. W. Chapman's reputation rests most securely on his edition of The Letters of Samuel Johnson: With Mrs. Thrale's Genuine Letters to Him (1952), although Jane Austen admirers would probably nominate his authoritative editions of her novels. Chapman's considerable influence derived in part from his position, from 1920 to 1942, as the virtual publisher of the Clarendon Press at Oxford University. In addition, he was a regular contributor to The Times Literary Supplement, a popular lecturer, an influential book collector, and an essayist.

Robert William Chapman was born in Eskbank, Scotland near Dalkeith, Perthshire, on 5 October 1881, to Edward Whitaker Chapman, an Anglican clergyman, and Hannah Cannon Chapman. His father died when Chapman was three, leaving his mother to raise six children, of whom Robert was the youngest and a special concern because of his delicate health. After attending high school in Dundee he received a scholarship to St. Andrews, where he...