It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our Production Manager, Colin Baldwin, who died in his sleep on October 19th, after a short illness.
There can be no doubt that the esteem in which the Society’s publications continue to be held is due, in large measure, to the care and accuracy with which Colin saw our volumes through the press, and the advice that he offered on every aspect of their progress, from the initial submission of the material to the choice of printer to whom to entrust the work. His advice to individual members of Council proved invaluable in a host of respects, and his readiness to respond, with the utmost patience, to our doubts, hesitations, and frequent changes of changes of mind has left a succession of editors (and Council officers) deeply in his debt.
There can be very few societies that have relied on the judgement of a single person over such a remarkable length of time. The majority of members of Council were still at school when he checked the proofs of his first Malone Society volume, and none of our more senior members had completed their first degree. It is the consistency that this length of familiarity with our work has afforded our publications that is, perhaps, his greatest contribution to the society’s work. The Malone Society has long been regarded as a bastion of unselfregarding scholarship. The fact that his name has never appeared in any of our editions speaks volumes for his commitment to that ideal.