Porson, Richard

Porson, Richard
(1759-1808)
   Scholar, s. of the parish clerk of E. Ruston, Norfolk, was distinguished from childhood by a marvellous tenacity of memory which attracted the attention of the curate of the parish, who ed. him, after which he was sent by a gentleman to Eton. Subsequently a fund was collected for the purpose of maintaining him at Camb., where he had a brilliant career, and became a Fellow of Trinity Coll. This position he lost by refusing to take orders. In 1792 he was appointed Prof. of Greek in the Univ., but resided for the most part in London, where he was much courted by literary men, but unfortunately fell into extremely intemperate habits. P. was one of the very greatest of Greek scholars and critics; but he has left little permanent work of his own. He ed. four plays of Euripides, viz., Hecuba, Orestes, Phoenissæ, and Medea. His most widely read work was his Letters to Archdeacon Travis on the disputed passage, 1 John v. 7, which is considered a masterpiece of acute reasoning. He is buried in the chapel of Trinity Coll.

Short biographical dictionary of English literature . . 2011.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Porson, Richard — ▪ English scholar born Dec. 25, 1759, East Ruston, Norfolk, Eng. died Sept. 25, 1808, London       British master of classical scholarship during the 18th century, the most brilliant of the English school that devoted itself to the task of… …   Universalium

  • PORSON, RICHARD —    eminent Greek scholar, born in Norfolk; was a prodigy of learning and critical acumen; edited the plays of Æschylus and four of Euripides, but achieved little in certification to posterity of his ability and attainments; was a man of slovenly… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Richard Porson — (* 25. Dezember 1759 in East Ruston, Norfolk; † 25. September 1808 in London) war ein britischer Klassischer Philologe. Er ist besonders durch seine Forschungen zur Textkritik und Metrik der griechischen Tragiker bekannt. Leben …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Richard Porson — (25 December 1759 ndash; 25 September 1808) was an English classical scholar. He was the discoverer of Porson s Law; and the Greek typeface Porson was based on his handwriting. Early lifeHe was born at East Ruston, near North Walsham, in Norfolk …   Wikipedia

  • Porson (typeface) — Porson is a typeface in the Greek alphabet based on the handwriting of the English classicist Richard Porson, who, as his biographer writes, excelled ... in writing with neatness and beauty and wrote notes on the margins of books with such… …   Wikipedia

  • Richard Bentley — (* 27. Januar 1662 in Oulton bei Leeds, Yorkshire; † 14. Juli 1742 in Cambridge) war ein englischer klassischer Philologe und Textkritiker. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Jugend und Studienjahre (1662–1689) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Richard Bentley — (January 27, 1662 ndash; July 14, 1742) was an English theologian, classical scholar and critic. Early life Bentley was born at Oulton near Leeds, West Yorkshire. His grandfather had suffered for the Royalist cause following the English Civil War …   Wikipedia

  • Porson's Law — is a metrical law concerning a bridge in Greek iambic trimeters, the most common dialogue meter in Greek tragedy and comedy. In its most general form it states that, in anceps cretic or cretic anceps meters, such as the iambic trimeter, no word… …   Wikipedia

  • Porson —   [ pɔːsn], Richard, britischer klassischer Philologe, * East Ruston (County Norfolk) 25. 12. 1759, ✝ London 25. 9. 1808; 1792 Professor in Cambridge, 1806 Bibliothekar der Royal Institution of Great Britain in London. Porson war nach R. Bentley… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Porson — (spr. porß n), Richard, bedeutendster engl. Philolog nach Bentley, geb. 25. Dez. 1759 in East Ruston (Norfolk), gest. 25. Sept. 1808 in London, studierte in Cambridge, ward daselbst Fellow und 1790 Professor der griechischen Sprache, verzichtete …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”