The Herbert C. Youtie series, 1932 -- 1979 (5 linear feet) documents his work transcribing, studying, and interpreting ancient Greek & Coptic script found in papyri and ostraka. The contents of this series also contain paperwork with his research, writing, and correspondence. Materials include photograph prints of papyri which he used for his work. Also found here are his professional correspondence, publication drafts, commentaries, final copies, and transcripts. The content is divided into four sub-series: Papyri, Writings and Publications, Correspondence, and Transcriptions and Notes. The arrangement of materials, as they were received from the University of Michigan Papyrology Collection, has been retained.
Additional descriptive information on folder contents is found in the collection spreadsheets supplied by the University of Michigan Papyrology Collection. The ordering of the material in this collection reflects the manner in which it was organized and received.
Herbert Chayyim Youtie was born in 1904 in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he lived until he graduated from high school. He went on to the University of Cincinnati where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1927. Youtie then moved to New York where he pursued an M. A. at Columbia University. After receiving his Masters of Arts in 1928, he also received degrees from European institutions; a diploma from L'Institut Catholique de Paris in 1929.
In 1929 Youtie started working at the University of Michigan as a Research Assistant in Papyrology. In 1930 he was made Instructor of Greek. By 1932 he had been promoted to Research Associate in Papyrology, became Assistant Professor in 1938, Associate Professor in 1944 and Research Professor of Papyrology by 1946.
Youtie excelled in his teaching, and particularly in his transcription and study of papyri from Greco-Roman Egypt. His work also entailed deciphering ostraka and some Coptic script in either papyri or ostraka. The quality of his work was recognized early in his career not only in Michigan but internationally. He was often consulted by colleagues and institutions locally and internationally regarding transcriptions. He came to be regarded as an authority in the field of papyrology. Youtie's work is also reflected in his multiple publications, resulting from his transcription work and about the discipline of papyrology itself. During his career he worked on over 110 publications, among which the following seminal books are found; The Papyrologist: Artificer of Fact and Text and Context in Transcribing Papyri.
Youtie's work was recognized through a University of Michigan Henry Russel Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1957. He was Russel lecturer in 1962 and awarded the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1974. In 1969 the University of Cologne conferred an honorary doctoral degree, an honor usually reserved for German citizens. The Association Internationale des Papyrologues named Youtie Président d'Honneur and he was chosen as a Corresponding Fellow by the British Academy. At the time of his retirement from the University of Michigan, in 1975, Youtie was named Research Professor Emeritus of Papyrology. In 1976, his work was once more recognized when colleagues presented him with Collectanea Papyrologica a series of texts published in his honor and edited by Ann Ellis Hanson. Youtie died in 1980.
Louise Carolyn Canberg was a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan where she was born on August 30, 1909. She pursued an undergraduate degree in Greek at the University of Michigan, which she completed in 1932. A year later, in June 1933, she received a Master's of Arts from the same institution. Louise married Professor Herbert C. Youtie in 1934.
Louise C. Youtie worked in the Papyrology Collection at the University of Michigan's Graduate Library for sixty two years transcribing Greek script found in papyri from the extensive collections at the University. She was known as the unofficial overseer of the Papyrology Collection. Her expertise is reflected in her research and bibliography, some of which focused on medical classical texts. One of her great contributions to papyrology and the history of medicine was her translation, commentary and publication of The Michigan Medical Codex (P.Mich. 758 = P.Mich.Inv. 21) in 1996. Along with her husband, she was often consulted by national and international colleagues in the field about papyri transcription and interpretation.
Louise C. Youtie died in 2004 after contributing much to the field of papyrology and the University of Michigan's Papyrology Collection.
