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As a once but now former Spenserian, I echo all of the plaudits bestowed here on Bert.  My memories include his showing up at the only panel I've ever been on where the number of presenters (4) exceeded the number of audience members (3).  I was still a junior member of the profession, and the session was held on a Sunday morning at Kzoo.  The session was not even a Spenserian one, but Bert had come, listened to each of us, and assured me after the talk that he had thought my paper good. That was a wonderful thing for a junior scholar to hear, and for a senior colleague to do. 

But then later in the week he also wrote to Bill Matchett, my colleague at the University of Washington, saying that he had heard my paper and thought it was terrific.  Matchett happened to be chair of my tenure committee, and one afternoon when greeting me in the mail room mentioned Bert's letter, and added, quite seriously, that with that sort of recommendation I needn't worry--my tenure was assured. The letter was not something he had been asked to write, but he took the time to do it anyway.  It was a kind and thoughtful act by a lovely and generous man. 

John
John Webster
Director of Writing for 
  the College of Arts and Sciences
English Department
Box 35-4330 
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-4330
On 6/16/2016 10:52 PM, Kathryn Walls wrote:
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May I add to this stream of tributes? This is only to say what everyone will know already, but Bert was not only a very great scholar, but also an extraordinarily generous one.  I met him only once, when he visited New Zealand with Mary in the 1980s, but he was kind enough to remember me and I will always treasure his wise advice, given from a uniquely broad perspective on critical fashions.   



From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Judith Owens <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, 17 June 2016 4:20 p.m.
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: A.C. Hamilton
 
I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of this fellow Spenserian, and fellow Manitoban. One of my most enduring regrets in my life as a scholar is my not having met Bert earlier than I did. Like you, David, like most of us, I will never be able to account fully for his influence on my reading of The FQ. Every time I teach the FQ, I take the Longman edition of it into the classroom, just to show the students the ratio of text to notes, not just to floor them but also to give them a visual clue to the richness of Spenser's work.

Judith Owens

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 16, 2016, at 10:26 PM, Sean Henry <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I just with sadness learned through the Queen's English alumni Facebook group that Bert Hamilton has died. Shelley King posted the notice I append below.

Sean.



In Memoriam: Cappon Professor Emeritus A. C. Hamilton

Queen's English announces with regret the passing of Albert Charles "Bert" Hamilton (July 20, 1921 - June 14, 2016). A specialist in Renaissance literature, A. C. Hamilton was a scholar of formidable intellect and range. From his first monograph "The Structure of Allegory of 'The Faerie Queene'" (1961) to his final "Northrop Frye: Anatomy of His Criticism" (1990), Hamilton's work was celebrated for its rigor and precision. If you have read Spenser's "The Faerie Queene," you are probably indebted to his insights, whether through his edition of the epic or the wealth of scholarship contained in "The Spenser Encyclopedia." For many years he held the title "Cappon Professor," the highest recognition of scholarship in the department; on his retirement we created the A.C. Hamilton Prize (affectionately known by some of us as "The Bertie") to recognize a doctoral thesis of outstanding merit each year. Many graduate students in the 80s and 90s have fond memories of time spent with Bert Hamilton and his wife Mary at their cottage on Buck Lake.



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Sean Henry, B.A., M.A., PhD.
Lecturer, Department of English
University of Victoria, B.C., Canada
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