John Lemprière

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John Lemprière (born around 1765 in Jersey , † February 1, 1824 in London ) was an English lexicographer , clergyman and college director.

Life

Lemprière, from one of Jersey's long-established families, attended school in Winchester in 1779 , then Pembroke College in Oxford . In 1787 he went to Reading for a short time . His Classical Dictionary appeared in Reading in 1788 . In 1792 he was elected director of the Abingdon Grammar School. He married around this time and took over the Vicariate of St. Nicholas in Abingdon. He probably had several projects in mind, only one, the Universal Biography of Eminent Persons in all Ages and Countries , he was able to realize in 1808. His abilities as a headmaster are doubtful: the Abingdon Grammar School he ran completely down, so that he was urged to resign in 1809. He then became director of the Exeter Free Grammar School, in 1811 also principal in Meeth ( Devonshire ). In 1819 he lost his post at Exeter, again due to inability. From then on, he lived only on his income from Meeth, before he had a stroke on February 1, 1824, during a carriage ride from his country estate to London, of which he died on the same day.

Works

His area of ​​research was ancient literature; He is the author of the Classical Dictionary , also known as Bibliotheca Classica , published in 1788 , in which, for the first time, the names appearing in ancient texts were listed alphabetically with short descriptions. Although it was heavily flawed, this book was one of the most frequently used reference works for Greek / Roman mythology in the English-speaking world due to many editions and revisions.

Literary processing

In literary terms, the person Lemprière was designed by Lawrence Norfolk , who, with his "Lemprière's Dictionary", throws the young scientist into a wild robber's pistol for family curses, secret societies, conspiracies and automaton people, in the course of which he also lets Lemprière create his dictionary. The book is considered a remake of The Name of the Rose .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Burkhart Kroeber : The dispute over "Lemprière's dictionary". A public excitement with a long reverberation . In: Language in the technical age , SpritZ, special issue: Helga Pfetsch (Ed.): Sovereign bridge builders. 60 years of the Association of Literary Translators . Böhlau, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-412-22284-0 , pp. 73–84, here p. 75; ISSN  0038-8475
personal data
SURNAME Lemprière, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English lexicographer, clergyman and college director
DATE OF BIRTH around 1765
PLACE OF BIRTH on Jersey
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 1824
Place of death London