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Paul Korshin
English Professor and British Literature Scholar

Dr. Paul J. Korshin, a professor of English since 1966, died March 2 at HUP, at the age of 65.

 

Dr. Korshin was an internationally known scholar of Eighteenth Century British literature, author or editor of many books, including Typologies in England, 1650-1820, published in 1982, and dozens of articles and reviews. He was a founder of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, and was instrumental in the creation of the English Short-Title Catalog, the most comprehensive bibliographic database of works printed before 1800. The ESTC was one of the first major online resources for scholarly research, making possible an entire generation of scholarship on the history of the book. Dr. Korshin also founded The Age of Johnson: A Scholarly Annual, and edited all 15 of its volumes to date, more than 8,000 pages; he was proofreading pages for volume 16 in his hospital room.

He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1987-88, and was a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar-in Residence at Bellagio in 1988.

A generous philanthropist, Dr. Korshin supported many scholarly initiatives financially as well as intellectually, concentrating his philanthropic activity on learned societies and institutions of higher learning, according to his wife, Dr. Joan Pataky-Kosove. At Penn, he served as a member of several University Council committees, including Admissions and Financial Aid, Bookstore, and Community Relations.

Born and raised in New York City, Dr. Korshin graduated from City College and earned his Ph.D. from Harvard. Coming directly to Penn as an assistant professor, he rose through the ranks, becoming an associate professor in 1971 and a full professor in 1980. He served as the director of the department?s Penn-in-London program at Kings College in 1993-94.

"A witty and flamboyant lecturer, Dr. Korshin taught the English department's most popular class, on 'Madness and Literature,' packing the campus's largest lecture halls with students eager to hear both his learned commentary and his entertaining asides on current cultural and political events," said Dr. John Richetti, professor of English. ?Always dressed immaculately in custom-tailored Savile Row suits and bow ties, he stood out sharply from the relaxed sartorial norms on campus. He was known as well for his Cordon-Bleu culinary skills and memorable dinner parties. He once arrived at a brown-bag lunch in the English department offices with a wicker picnic basket containing duck á l'orange and a half bottle of claret," Dr. Richetti added. "Paul did everything with great style and flair," said Dr. James English, chair of the department and a longtime colleague. "He was an extraordinary, inimitable presence, both a valued member of the Penn community and a kind of institution unto himself."

Dr. Korshin is survived by his wife, Dr. Joan Pataky-Kosove, CW '63, GSAS '76. He is also survived by his two step-children, Andrew A. Kosove and Alexis A. Moran, and his brothers, Dr. Jonathan Korshin and Dr. Oliver M. Korshin.

 

Paul J. Korshin Memorial Fund


Coursework
English102.401Literature and the Law: The Trial in English and American Literature - Fall 2004
English241.30118th Century British Literature - Fall 2004
English245.301The Nouveaux Riches in English and American Literature - Spring 2004
English543.301Samuel Johnson and His Circle - Spring 2004
English543.301Samuel Johnson and His Circle - Spring 2004
English102.401Madness and Literature 17th and 18th Century - Fall 2003
English293.301The Literature of London - Fall 2003
English540.401Swift and his Circle - Spring 2003
English540.401Swift and his Circle - Spring 2003
English045.001The 18th Century English Novel - Spring 2003
English102.401Madness & Literature - Fall 2002
English245.301Topics in 18th Century Novel - Fall 2002
English241.301The Essay in Eighteenth-Century Literature - Spring 2001
English541.301Genres 18th Century English Poetry - Spring 2001
English541.301Genres 18th Century English Poetry - Spring 2001
English102.401Madness & Literature in the 17th & 18th Centuries - Fall 2000
English016.301Topics in Literature - Fall 2000
English040.303Major British Poets 1660-Present - Spring 2000
English241.301Topics in 18th C Literature: The Picaresque Novel - Spring 2000
English050.001Romantic Poets - Spring 2000
English102.401Madness and Literature - Fall 1999
English543.30118th Century Literature - Fall 1999
English543.30118th Century Literature - Fall 1999
English098.301Words Into Print - Spring 1999
English241.301Topics in 18th Century Lit - Spring 1999
English102.401 Madness and Literature 17th & 18th Century - Fall 1998
English293.301 Topics in Literature & Society - Fall 1998
English040.303Major British Poets 1660- Present - Spring 1998
English241.301Topics in Eighteenth Century Literature - Spring 1998
English102.401Madness and Literature 19th & 20th Century - Fall 1997
English546.301 Poetry and Poetic from Dryden to Cowper - Fall 1997
English546.301 Poetry and Poetic from Dryden to Cowper - Fall 1997
English202.304Major British Poets - Spring 1997
English202.303Major British Poets - Spring 1997
English098.301Words in Print - Spring 1997
English102.401Madness and Literature 17th & 18th C. - Fall 1996
English293.301London in Literature - Fall 1996
English748.401Topics in 18th-Century Literature - Spring 1996
English042.001English Literature 1725-1800 - Spring 1996
English102.401Madness & Literature - Fall 1995
English041.001Age of Pope - Fall 1995
English098.301Words into Print - Spring 1993
English546.301Picaresque Novel 1550-1950 - Spring 1993
English546.301Picaresque Novel 1550-1950 - Spring 1993
English043.401Madness and Literature 17th & 18th Centuries: From the Renaissance to the French Revolution - Fall 1992
English741.301Samuel Johnson and His Circle - Fall 1992
English098.301Words into Print - Spring 1992
English549.30118th Century Literature and Culture - Spring 1992
English549.30118th Century Literature and Culture - Spring 1992
English044.401Madness and Literature: 19th and 20th Centuries - Fall 1991
English548.30118th Century Literature and Culture - Fall 1991
English548.30118th Century Literature and Culture - Fall 1991
English098.301Words into Print - Spring 1991
English241.301Topics in 18th Century Literature: The Sentimental Novel, 1740-1800 - Spring 1991
English245.301Topics in 18th Century Novel - Spring 1991
English043.401Madness and Literature 17th & 18th Centuries: From the Renaissance to the French Revolution - Fall 1990
English748.301Decipherment: Encoding and Decoding in Literature Texts - Fall 1990
English098.301Words into Print - Spring 1990
English044.800Madness and English Literature (II): From the French Revolution to the 1930's - Fall 1989
English742.800The Age of Johnson - Fall 1989
English098.801Words into Print - Spring 1989
English567.800Postmodern British Fiction - Spring 1989
English567.800Postmodern British Fiction - Spring 1989
English044.800Madness and Literature: From the Renaissance to the French Revolution - Fall 1988
English541.80018th Century Poetic Vocations: The Ode, the Georgic and the Vision - Fall 1988
English541.80018th Century Poetic Vocations: The Ode, the Georgic and the Vision - Fall 1988
English098.801Words into Print - Spring 1987
English098.800Words into Print - Spring 1987
English549.80018th Century Literature and Culture: 1725-1800 - Spring 1987
English044.801Madness and Literature - Fall 1986
English044.800Madness and Literature - Fall 1986
English745.800Prophecy Metaphysics and Blake - Fall 1986
English098.800Editing - Spring 1986
English541.800Topics in 18th Century Literature - Spring 1986
English541.800Topics in 18th Century Literature - Spring 1986
English044.801Madness and English Literature (II): From the Renaissance to the French Revolution - Fall 1985
English044.800Madness and English Literature (II): From the Renaissance to the French Revolution - Fall 1985
English742.800The Age of Johnson - Fall 1985
English044.801Madness and Literature from Blake to World War II - Spring 1985
English044.800Madness and Literature from Blake to World War II - Spring 1985
English547.800Prose Fiction: 1600-1725 - Spring 1985
English547.800Prose Fiction: 1600-1725 - Spring 1985
English098.800Words into Print: Editing Texts for Publication - Fall 1984
English546.800Prose Fiction: 1600-1725 - Fall 1984
English546.800Prose Fiction: 1600-1725 - Fall 1984
English044.800Madness and English Literature (II): From the Renaissance to the French Revolution - Fall 1983
English242.800English Poetry and Poetics from Dryden to Wordsworth - Fall 1983
English741.800Satire and Its Literature: 1650-1800 - Fall 1983
English150.801Words into Print: Editing Texts for Publication - Spring 1983
English150.800Words into Print: Editing Texts for Publication - Spring 1983
English549.80018th Century Literature and Culture: 1725-1800 - Spring 1983
English549.80018th Century Literature and Culture: 1725-1800 - Spring 1983
English044.800Madness and English Literature (II): From the French Revolution to the 1930's - Fall 1982
English548.800English Literature and Culture: 1650-1725 - Fall 1982
English548.800English Literature and Culture: 1650-1725 - Fall 1982
English150.801Words into Print: Editing Texts for Publication - Spring 1982
English741.800Topics in Intellectual History (I): 1737-1800 - Spring 1982
English044.800Madness and Literature (II) 1790-1930 - Fall 1980
English741.800Topics in Intellectual History (I): 1660-1725 - Fall 1980
English549.80018th Century Literature and Culture: 1725-1800 - Spring 1980
English549.80018th Century Literature and Culture: 1725-1800 - Spring 1980
English150.000Words into Print: Editing Texts for Publication - Spring 1980
English044.800Madness and English Literature : The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries - Fall 1979
English150.000Words into Print: Editing Texts for Publication - Spring 1979
English544.000The Picaresque Novel and Its Tradition: 1555-1800 - Spring 1979
English248.000Comedy on the Stage: 1670-1790 - Fall 1978
English741.000Poetry and Poetics from Dryden to Johnson - Fall 1978
English044.000Madness and Literature - Spring 1978
English549.00018th Century Culture: 1725-1800 - Spring 1978
English044.000Madness and English Literature (II): The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries - Fall 1977
English548.00018th Century Literature and Culture I - Fall 1977

 
 
 
 


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Photo caption: Francis Daniel Pastorius, Beehive manuscript, 1696-1865, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania.
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