The basic biographical details are as follows:
- Born Greenwich, London 1944.
- Education, Eltham Green School and The London School of Economics, London University, Ph.D. 1969.
- Assistant lecturer, London University (UCR) 1968.
- University of New South Wales 1970-2006: lecturer, eventually Scientia Professor. Now Emeritus Professor, Scientia.
- Hon. Professor, The Centre for the History of European Discourses, Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Queensland, 2007-20.
- Visiting fellowships: Cambridge, Huntingdon Library; seminar director, Folger Shakespeare Library. Member of Clare Hall and Churchill College, Cambridge.
- Associate Scholar, Erasmus Centre for Early Modern Studies, Erasmus University of Rotterdam. Fellow Australian Academy of the Humanities; Fellow Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
- Further details Who's Who in Australia and similar volumes.