Anthony Wood

Anthony Wood (born December 17, 1632 in Oxford , † November 18, 1695 ibid) was a British historian of science ( antiquarian ) who wrote the history of the University of Oxford .

Wood attended the New College School in Oxford from 1641 and the Grammar School in Thame from 1644, but this was interrupted by the turmoil of the English Civil War. Afterwards, his brother Edward (1627-1655) became his tutor at Trinity College , Oxford, while his mother, to his chagrin, kept trying to teach him.

From 1647 he was at Merton College in Oxford, where he was employed as a postmaster and studied. In 1655 he received his master's degree (MA) and published sermons by his deceased brother the following year. He began studying the history of Oxford University, which in 1674 resulted in the publication of Historia et antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis (he provided an English manuscript which was translated into Latin), printed on behalf of the Dean of Christ Church College John Fell (1625-1686). In 1678, the files of the university, which he had administered since 1660, were temporarily withdrawn from him, as he was suspected of being part of the papist conspiracyto be or to secretly follow the Catholic faith. He then swore an oath to the king as head of the Church of England . Wood continued to work on his major work Athenae Oxonienses: an Exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University of Oxford from 1500 to 1690 (as well as the accompanying Fasti ), which was published in London in 1691/92.

In 1693 he was expelled from the university for defamation against Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon . He died a few years later and was buried in the chapel of Merton College. His nephew Thomas Wood then took over the defense of the book against attacks from critics in several writings.

He left diaries (from 1657 to 1695) and an autobiography.

He never married and held no official positions at Oxford University. His hobbies were music and campanology .

Fonts

• The History and Antiquities of the Colleges and Halls in the University of Oxford, with a continuation, 2 volumes 1786, 1790 (editor John Gutch, first in Latin 1674)
• The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford, 3 volumes, 1792–1796
• The Ancient and Present State of the City of Oxford, chiefly collected by A. Wood, with additions by the Rev. Sir Peshall, 1773
• Andrew Clark (Editor): Survey of the Antiquities of the City of Oxford, composed in 1661-66 by Anthony Wood, Oxford Historical Society, 3 volumes, 1889-1899
• Andrew Clark (Editor): The Life and Times of Anthony Wood, Antiquary of Oxford, 1632–1695, Described by Himself, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1891
• Athenae Oxoniensis, 2 volumes, London 1691/92 (and later editions)
  • Wood was also planning a follow-up volume. Philip Bliss published a new edition in 4 volumes from 1813 to 1820 and started a 4th edition in 1848, of which only the first volume appeared.

literature

• Graham Parry, article in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004

Web links

• Encyclopedia Britannica 1911