{{Short description|English publisher and folklorist (1856–1910)}} {{for|the English architect and artist|Alfred Young Nutt}} {{Use British English|date=May 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Alfred Nutt | image = Plate 13, Alfred Nutt portrait. Folk-Lore, vol. 21.png | alt = Portrait of Alfred Nutt | caption = Nutt, from an obituary | birth_name = Alfred Trübner Nutt | birth_date = {{Birth date|1856|11|22|df=y}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1910|05|21|1856|11|22|df=y}} | death_place = Melun, France | occupation = {{Hlist|Publisher|folklorist|scholar}} | spouse = {{Marriage|Marie Louise Gelly|1885}} | children = 2 | father = David Nutt | relatives = William Miller (great-grandfather) | signature = Alfred Nutt signature.svg }} '''Alfred Trübner Nutt''' (22 November 1856 – 21 May 1910) was an English publisher, folklorist, and scholar of Arthurian literature and Celtic studies. Born into a publishing family in London, he succeeded to his father's firm, David Nutt, in 1878. He founded ''The Folk-Lore Journal'', served as president of The Folklore Society, and wrote on the Celtic origins of the Grail legend. He was also involved in the establishment of the Irish Texts Society. Nutt drowned in the Seine in 1910 while trying to rescue his son.
== Biography == === Early life and education === Alfred Trübner Nutt was born in London on 22 November 1856, the eldest, and only surviving, son of bookseller and publisher David Nutt. His mother, Ellen, was the granddaughter of another publisher, William Miller.<ref name="Murphy 2009" /> His middle name came from his father's publishing partnership with Nicholas Trübner.<ref name="Tedder 2004" />
Nutt was educated at the University College School, London, and the Collège de Vitry-le-François in Vitry-le-François, France.<ref name="Murphy 2009" />
=== Career === Nutt spent three years in a business apprenticeship in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris before taking over his late father's business in 1878.<ref name="Murphy 2009">{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=David |date=October 2009 |title=Nutt, Alfred Trübner |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/nutt-alfred-trubner-a6272 |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |language=en}}</ref> He founded ''The Folk-Lore Journal'' (later ''Folk-Lore'') and was elected president of The Folklore Society in 1897 and 1898.<ref name="Tedder 2004">{{Cite ODNB |title=Nutt, Alfred Trübner |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/35269|last=Tedder |first=H. R. |others=Revised by Sayoni Basu|author-link=Henry Richard Tedder|date=2004-09-23}}</ref>
Nutt was a friend and supporter of Jessie Weston, shared her interest in the Celtic origins of the Grail legend, and published some of her books.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brookman |first=H. E. |date=2012 |title=From Romance to Ritual: Jessie L. Weston's Gawain |url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/118945935/Brookman_From_Romance_to_Ritual_Author_Accepted_Manuscript_KCL_PURE.pdf |journal=Studies in Medievalism |volume=21 |pages=119–144 |via=King's College London}}</ref> He was associated with Whitley Stokes, Eleanor Hull and Kuno Meyer. Juliette Wood has described his work as an influence on the scholarship of Roger Sherman Loomis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wood |first=Juliette |date=1999 |title=Folklore Studies at the Celtic Dawn: The Rôle of Alfred Nutt as Publisher and Scholar |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=googlescholar&id=GALE%7CA55983641&v=2.1&it=r&sid=googleScholar&asid=5ecc3b1d |journal=Folklore |volume=110 |issue=1–2 |pages=3–12 |doi=10.1080/0015587X.1999.9715976 |issn=0015-587X |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Nutt was also involved in the establishment of the Irish Texts Society, and his firm produced its early publications.<ref name="Murphy 2009" />
His works included ''Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail: With Especial Reference to the Hypothesis of Its Celtic Origin'' and, with Meyer, ''The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal, to the Land of the Living; An Old Irish Saga''.<ref name="Tedder 2004" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=Kuno |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001058725 |title=The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal, to the Land of the Living; An Old Irish Saga |publisher=David Nutt |year=1895 |location=London |language=en|via=HathiTrust}}</ref> He wrote analyses of the Mabinogion and was working on an annotated edition of Matthew Arnold's ''Study of Celtic Literature'' at the time of his death.<ref name="Tedder 2004" />
=== Personal life and death === In 1885, Nutt married Marie Louise Gelly;<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-23 |title=BMD Records (Marriages) - Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France |url=https://en.geneanet.org/collaborative-indexes/view/64008/1712 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Geneanet |language=en}}</ref> they had two sons.<ref name="Tedder 2004" />
Nutt drowned in the Seine while on holiday at Melun on 21 May 1910.<ref name="Tedder 2004" /> He had tried to rescue his disabled 17-year-old son, who had been dragged into the river when his horse bolted; his son survived.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/05/24/432213912.pdf |title=Alfred Nutt Drowned: Well-Known London Publisher Dies Trying to Save His Invalid Son |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1910-05-24 |access-date=2012-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528181111/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/05/24/432213912.pdf|archive-date=2024-05-28|url-status=dead}}</ref> His wife succeeded him as head of the firm.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Crawford (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2EK9P7-ZMsC |title=The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928 |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-135-43402-1 |location=London |pages=579 |language=en|via=Google Books}}</ref>
== Publications == * {{cite book |last=Nutt |first=Alfred |title=Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail: With Especial Reference to the Hypothesis of Its Celtic Origin |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100547388 |location=London |author-mask=2 |publisher=David Nutt |date=1888}} * {{cite book |last1=Nutt |first1=Alfred |last2=Hyde |first2=Douglas |author-link2=Douglas Hyde |title=Beside the Fire: A Collection of Irish Gaelic Folk Stories |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100895712 |location=London |author-mask=2 |publisher=David Nutt |date=1890}} * {{cite book |last1=Nutt |first1=Alfred |last2=MacInnes |first2=Duncan |title=Folk and Hero Tales |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100325228 |location=London |author-mask=2 |publisher=David Nutt |date=1890}} * {{cite book |last1=Nutt |first1=Alfred |last2=Meyer |first2=Kuno |author-link2=Kuno Meyer |title=The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal, to the Land of the Living: An Old Irish Saga |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001058725 |location=London |author-mask=2 |publisher=David Nutt |date=1895}} * {{cite book |last=Nutt |first=Alfred |title=Celtic and Mediæval Romance |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007701672 |location=London |author-mask=2 |publisher=David Nutt |date=1899}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == * {{cite journal |last=Clodd |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Clodd |title=In Memoriam: Alfred T. Nutt |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Folk-Lore/Volume_21/Obituary/Alfred_Nutt |journal=Folk-Lore |volume=21 |issue=2 |date=June 1910}} * {{cite journal |last=Rogerson |first=Ian |title=Alfred Nutt: A Fine Victorian Publisher |journal=Bulletin of the John Rylands Library |date=2000 |url=https://www.manchesterhive.com/previewpdf/journals/bjrl/82/1/article-p193.xml}} * {{cite web |last=Beaupré |first=Suzanna |date=2024-10-25 |title=At the Sign of the Phoenix: the Folklore of Alfred Nutt |url=https://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/at-the-sign-of-the-phoenix-the-folklore-of-alfred-nutt/ |website=Peter Harrington |access-date=}}
== External links == {{wikisource|Author:Alfred Nutt|Alfred Nutt}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=41572 | name=Alfred Nutt}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Alfred Nutt}} * {{ISFDB name |id=208563}} * [https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Nutt%2c%20Alfred%20Tr%26uuml%3bbner%2c%201856%2d1910 Alfred Nutt] at Online Books Page * [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F45714 Alfred Nutt] at The National Archives * {{LCAuth|n50023347|Alfred Nutt|24|ue}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutt, Alfred Trübner}} Category:1856 births Category:1910 deaths Category:19th-century English male writers Category:19th-century English non-fiction writers Category:19th-century English publishers (people) Category:19th-century English scholars Category:20th-century English male writers Category:20th-century English non-fiction writers Category:20th-century English publishers (people) Category:Arthurian scholars Category:Celtic studies scholars Category:Deaths by drowning in France Category:English folklorists Category:English male non-fiction writers Category:People educated at University College School Category:Presidents of the Folklore Society Category:Publishers (people) from London