Category: Sutcliff not Sutcliffe

Rosemary’s family name is Sutcliff without an ‘E’, not Sutcliffe (sic). Here are posts about attempts to get people to spell her name correctly, and to put right mistakes.

Historical and children’s novelist Rosemary Sutcliff’s Brother Dusty Feet excerpt chosen in collection of adventure stories for ten year olds

Anthony LawtonLeave a comment

Good morning, and Happy Father’s Day , at least in the UK…

I have been sorting my shelves of books connected with historical novelist and children’s writer Rosemary Sutcliff –  from her research library, the collection of titles and books which I inherited from her, and those I have acquired since her death in my role as her literary executor. (It it must be done, for we are moving house.)

Adventure Stories for Ten Year Olds, chosen by Helen PaibaAdventure Stories for Ten Year Olds ( Macmillan Children’s Books, 2001) was ‘compiled’ by Helen Paiba, and illustrated by Douglas Carrel. According to the blurb, Helen Paiba was “known as one of the most committed, knowledgeable, and acclaimed children’s booksellers in Britain.” For “more than twenty years she owned and ran the Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London, which under her guidance gained a superb reputation for its range of children’s books and for the advice available for its customers.” In 1995 she was awarded the Eleanor Farjeon Award, given for distinguished service to the world of children’s books.The story from Rosemary is an extract from Brother Dusty Feet (Oxford University Press, 1952, pp  23-33). It begins Read More »

Putting someone to the Sword (at Sunset) at publishers

Anthony LawtonLeave a comment

THERE IS NO ‘E’ in the family name of ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF, the historical novelist and writer of children’s books. Alerted by the excellent blog Rosemary Sutcliff: An Appreciation , I am chasing after Atlantic, the publishers of a new edition of Sword at Sunset (by Rosemary Sutcliff). Yet again I need to assert that it is Rosemary Sutcliff without an E!

Copy of Tweet to Atlantic Books

  • More examples on this blog of people who should know better than mis-spelling Rosemary Sutcliff (sic) as Rosemary Sutcliffe – with an E!

Author Rosemary Sutcliff (sic) not Rosemary Sutcliffe with an E

Anthony Lawton1 Comment

Rosemary Sutcliff’s name is spelled wrongly by (too) many people who write Sutcliff  as Sutcliffe, that is with an ‘E’! If you Google ‘Rosemary Sutcliffe’ with an ‘e’ you find many versions of this error in newspapers, websites, schools and in bookshops. In fact, one of her publishers even made this mistake in their promotional material for one of her books.

Examples on this blog of wrong spelling of Rosemary Sutcliff as Rosemary Sutcliffe (sic)

Simon Scarrow dedicates Gladiator Fight for Freedom new book to Rosemary Sutcliff but …

Anthony LawtonLeave a comment

Author Simon Scarrow dedicates to Rosemary Sutcliff his new young adult book Gladiator: Fight for Freedom. I am alerted to this by reader and commenter on this blog ‘JB’ (5 Feb on post here). Thank you JB , for  I was unaware of the dedication – or the book – and am off to get it.

For Rosemary Sutcliffe (sic) who has inspired so many of us to love history.

Oh Dear Sutcliff spelt wrongly again, with an E. In fact JB writes:

… (it) has an interesting plot and a dedication to Rosemary Sutcliffe (sic). Mr Scarrow speaks highly of Miss Sutcliff and whilst I do not blame him for the typo, I do wonder who does his proof reading. It would be the work of a moment to check the spelling of Miss Sutcliff’s surname.

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Rosemary Sutcliff is author of historical fiction The Eagle of the Ninth | Rosemary Sutcliffe is not

Anthony Lawton2 Comments

The Eagle of the Ninth is by Rosemary Sutcliff (sic). Too many people spell the name of author of historical fiction and children’s books Rosemary Sutcliff (correct) wrongly – with an E, as in ‘Rosemary Sutcliffe’ (incorrect). This is particularly surprising and rather more disappointing when it is someone whose Twitter biography describes them as ‘Head of Digital’ at a prestigious British publisher’s Education Department; especially when the publisher has been one of  Rosemary’s publishers for more than 50 years! However, if their typing is anywhere near as bad as my own, it might be fairer for me to think of this as a typing error rather than a spelling error. In any event I tweeted them!

This spelling problem will only increase with material about the film from The Eagle of the Ninth, The Eagle. I catch some of the errors on the web with a Google Alert for “Rosemary Sutcliffe”. In fact, I also found from the alert that the funders and production company for the film The Eagle, Focus Features,  got this wrong a few weeks ago. Now I check,  they have still not put it right.