'''Bertha Tilly''' (1900–1980) was a 20th-century British classical philologist, topographer, and educator born in Lancaster. She is best remembered for her editions and works on Virgil, and her work in the field of topography.
== Biography == Tilly was born in Lancaster in 1900, and obtained her degree and PhD from the University of London.<ref name="Horsfall1983">{{Cite journal |last1=Horsfall |first1=Nicholas |last2=Castagnoli |first2=Ferdinando |date=1983 |title=Memoir of Bertha Tilly |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41591878 |journal=Vergilius (1959-) |issue=29 |pages=52–53 |jstor=41591878 |issn=0506-7294}}</ref> She worked as a teacher, and, later, headmistress, combining work as a secondary school educator with her research career in London and Ely, before retiring to Cambridge.<ref name="Horsfall1983" /> After her death in 1980, her considerable library and photographic collection were left to the Institute of Classical Studies in London.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=The National |title=The Discovery Service |url=https://discovery-cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N13755330 |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=discovery-cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Works == One of Tilly's notable works is ''Vergil's Latium'' (1947), a series of topographical studies of the Roman Campagna. Tilly discusses locations in relation to Virgil's ''Aeneid'', the last six books of which are set there.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=M. L. |date=May 1949 |title=Virgil's Latium - Bertha Tilley: Vergil's Latium. Pp. xv+123; 36 plates, 8 figs. Oxford: Blackwell, 1947. Cloth,15 s . net. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0009840X00094385/type/journal_article |journal=The Classical Review |language=en |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=26–28 |doi=10.1017/S0009840X00094385 |issn=0009-840X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> By compiling historical, archaeological, and topographical material, Tilly reconstructs the area as it was in Virgil's day.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=G.F.F. |date=December 1949 |title=VERGIL'S LATIUM. By Bertha Tilly, PH.D., M.A. (Lond.). pp. xv, 123 with 36 photographic plates and 8 maps or plans ; Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1947. 15 s . net . |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003598X00020457/type/journal_article |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=23 |issue=92 |pages=228–229 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00020457 |issn=0003-598X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Ursula Le Guin commented on the influence of Tilly's book on her novel ''Lavinia''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keith |first1=Alison |title=Virgil |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-84885-920-3 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sbYyEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 |language=en}}</ref>
Another important work by Tilly is her 1973 edition of Varro, titled ''Varro the'' ''Farmer: A Selection from the Res Rusticae'', which was praised by her contemporaries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Richter |first=Will |date=1976 |title=Review of Varro the Farmer. A Selection from the Res Rusticae |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27686381 |journal=Gnomon |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=26–32 |jstor=27686381 |issn=0017-1417}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=White |first=K. D. |date=November 1976 |title=Varro the Farmer: a selection from the Res Rusticae , edited with a commentary and a select vocabulary by Bertha Tilly. London: University Tutorial Press, 1973. Pp. viii + 362, frontis., 6 plates. £3·30. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0075435800073974/type/journal_article |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |language=en |volume=66 |pages=267–268 |doi=10.2307/299828 |jstor=299828 |issn=0075-4358|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Tilly also created several editions of Virgil for use of the classroom, all of which were generally well received.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=L.B.L. |date=1956 |title=Review of The Story of Camilla |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43935950 |journal=The Classical Outlook |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=32 |jstor=43935950 |issn=0009-8361}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.elyhighschoolforgirls.org.uk/ehs-TillyB.htm ''Ely High School 1905-1972 - Miss Bertha Tilly MA, PhD Headmistress 1936-66'']
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilly, Bertha}} Category:1900 births Category:1980 deaths Category:British classical philologists