Dr. Paul Cassar (1914-2006) : a bibliography

Abstract

This publication was originally intended as a small leaflet to accompany an exhibition of the same title which was organized and launched by the University of Malta Library in March 2005 under the curatorship of the authors. However, it soon became apparent to us that Paul Cassar's pUblications are so numerous in number that they merited a more substantial publication. With the encouragement and guidance of Mr. Anthony Mangion, Director, Library Services, University of Malta Library, the publication has grown and assumed its present form. The biographical section introduces the reader to Dr. Paul Cassar's long and distinguished career. Included is an essay in Maltese by an old time friend and neighbour, Mr. Joseph Felice Pace, who recalls their friendship and shares with us his recollections of this private family man whose enthusiasm for historical research, first kindled on the school bench, never wavered throughout his life. Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) once remarked that: "The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading, in order to write." Even in his twilight years, Cassar continued to inhabit the Reading Rooms of the Island's archival depositories and libraries, absorbed in his world of scholarship and painstaking research. The biographical section is complemented by a selection of family photographs which chronicle Paul Cassar's life and reveal an aspect of it which few, other than his immediate family and friends, saw. In the bibliographical section, organized chronologically according to year of publication and spanning a period of almost sixty years, entries are classified into four subjects: Medical History, Psychology & Psychiatry, Forensic Medicine, and Miscellanea. In our endeavour to record all Paul Cassar's writings, we have not simply limited ourselves to monographs and articles in learned journals but have also sought to include other works penned by him such as newspaper articles, various letters to the press, and book reviews. Through the generosity of Paul Cassar's family, we have also been able to include a listing of lectures and public broadcasts, similarly organized. While some of the manuscripts' titles will be familiar, others have never before been published in print-form and will, therefore, be new to the reader. An index has been provided to facilitate navigation through the text.