Distinguished Research Professor Richard Rouse passed away on July 6, 2022. Richard was an accomplished medieval historian, a member of the Department of History since 1963, and a generous colleague and scholar. He became a member of the Center upon arriving at UCLA, and for many years served on the Editorial Board of the Center’s journal Viator. Professor Rouse, along with his spouse, colleague, and frequent co-author, Mary Rouse, who survives him, trained many students, both in paleography classes and through his work with the Center’s Research Assistants.
Over thirty years, Richard and Mary formed a collection of 140 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in Latin and vernacular languages. They donated their manuscripts to UCLA Library Special Collections in 2005 and, in 2011, other manuscripts and a significant collection of early printed books and leaves. The Rouse Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Documents and Leaves, and Early Printed Materials today contains 179 bound manuscripts, 207 documents, 16 illuminated leaves and 122 leaves, spanning the tenth to the nineteenth century from France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and Bohemia. With Mary, Richard was the driving force behind the establishment of the Center’s History of the Book Lecture series, established in 1993 and named in 2016 The Richard and Mary Rouse History of the Book Lecture, on the occasion of the 25th annual lecture.
This is a profound loss for the CMRS Center for Early Global Studies and our community and we look forward to sharing with you any events planned to commemorate Richard and to offer support to Mary.