French Seventeenth-Century Literature: Influences and Transformations: Essays in Honour of Christopher J. Gossip

This volume celebrates the life and scholarly achievements of Chris Gossip, who, before his retirement in 2007, held the Chair of French at the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia, for almost two decades. A graduate of Edinburgh, Chris distinguished himself early on as a student of high intellectual capability. His doctoral thesis, undertaken at the University of Edinburgh, initially under the supervision of Professor Harry Barnwell, before the latter moved to Belfast, was on the Roman tragedies of Thomas Corneille. This was to be the pattern of Chris's scholarly work. Chris's first academic appointment, from October 1964 to September 1974, was at the University of Aberdeen. He then proceeded to fill the post of Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Swansea, where he remained from October 1974 to January 1991, when he was invited to take up the Chair of French at the University of New England.