The T.C.D. Connection Berkeley - Luce - Berman Luce (A.A.) ...

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The T.C.D. Connection
Berkeley - Luce - Berman

Luce (A.A.) Professor of Philosophy, T.C.D. An important Archive of original manuscript & typed material,  Signed  printed correspondence, letters, cards & articles etc., over one hundred items in all, as an Archive. (1)
All the items in this collection are by A.A. Luce, and most are partly or fully in Luce's own hand. Most of the items were sent to David Berman, who was Luce's last student. These mostly consists of letters and, postcards relating to Berman's Ph.D thesis, as it progressed over the years, from 1966 to 1972,  also on letters on an article they, (with Prof. J.-P. Pittion) were working on together, which was published in 1969, and on articles Luce himself was working on. All together there are about one hundred items, hence probably the biggest collection in either public or private hands. (TCD has a surprisingly small collection of Luce material.)
Luce is generally regarded as the great Berkeley scholar of the 20th Century. For he wrote the authoritative biography of Berkeley, he also edited with T.E. Jessop, the nine-volume edition of Berkeley's works, and edited the Diplomatic Edition of Berkeley Philosophical Notebooks. In addition he published on other subjects, such as fishing, chess and the Book of Kells. Luce was much more than just a scholar. He was an important figure in the history of TCD, especially in the 1930s and 1940s, when he was at the forefront of the governance of the College, fighting hard and passionately to preserve the Trinity identity which he knew from1901 to 1914, ie. before WWI, the Easter Rising and Civil War. Luce was an important figure in the Church of Ireland, the other great institution in Ireland, which like TCD, could not be easily assimilated into the new post 1922 Irish State. 
Among the most interesting items in the collection is a nine-page type written article, entitled 'Berkeley's Theory of Vision and the 'Parts' of his Principles.' Luce sent this to Berman with a covering letter dated 13 October 1971, asking him what he thinks of it.
Another item is the article on Berkeley which Luce was asked to do for the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which he did, but which they decided to abridge. Luce was so angered by this, that he refused to sign his name to the abridged version which was published. The two-page typed written item is the un-abridged version.
Another item is a one-page hand-written account about whether Berkeley wrote the 1737 novel, "The Adventures of Gaudentia di Lucca," which has often been attributed to Berkeley. The item is Signed by Luce and dated 2-12-1932. Luce concludes his account by saying that 'the author [of the novel] is able, well-informed and philosophical.' But Luce says, he doubts if Berkeley 'would write so sustained a romance,'
As an Archive, of manuscript and printed material, w.a.f. (1)