Christopher Wase (1627–29 August 1690)
was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...
,
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
,
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
, and
educator, who was the
Architypographus of
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
for several years.
Life
The son of John Wase of London, he was born in
Hackney. He was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
, and in 1645 was admitted scholar of
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
. Wase became Fellow of King's, and graduated B.A. in 1648. In 1649 he published a translation of Sophocles's ‘Electra,’ dedicated to
Princess Elizabeth, with an appendix designed to show his devotion to the Stuart house.
John Walker says that Wase also delivered a feigned letter from the king to
Benjamin Whichcote, the Provost of King's. He was deprived of his fellowship and left England.
Captured at sea, Wase was imprisoned at
Gravesend, but escaped, and served in the Spanish army against the French. He was taken prisoner, but was released, and returned to England and became tutor to
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, the eldest son of
Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke
Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke, 2nd Earl of Montgomery (1621 – 11 December 1669), was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, and his first wife Susan de Vere. He succeeded his father i ...
.
[
In 1655 Wase proceeded M.A. and was appointed headmaster of the royal free school in ]Dedham, Essex
Dedham is a village within the borough of Colchester in northeast Essex, England, on the River Stour and the border of Essex and Suffolk. The nearest town to Dedham is the small market town of Manningtree.
Governance
Dedham is part of the elect ...
. From 1662 to 1668 he was headmaster of Tonbridge School
(God Giveth the Increase)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding
, religion =
, president =
, head_label ...
, where the register states that he was B.D., and educated at the school Thomas Herbert, younger brother of William Herbert. In 1671 he became superior beadle at law and printer to the university of Oxford. He died on 29 August 1690,[ in ]Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.[
]
Works
In 1647 Nicholas Gray, the Head Master of Eton, published Wase's Greek version of Hugo Grotius's ''Baptizatorum Puerorum Institutio'' (other editions 1650, 1665, 1668, and 1682).[
In 1649, Wase published his translation of the '' Electra'' of ]Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
. It called upon Prince Charles, then living in Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...
, to avenge the death of his father, Charles I. Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
was figured as Egist, killed by Charles as Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness an ...
. The debate between the two sisters represent the political options facing Royalists in the immediate aftermath of the regicide: compromise with the new Commonwealth government or resist it. Wase appended two poems anticipating the immediate restoration of the monarchy, one of which mentions John Milton and alludes to his divorce tracts. His Latin notebooks, many of which contain political poems written during the 1650s, are in the Bodleian Library.
In 1654 Wase dedicated to his pupil William Herbert a translation of the '' Cynegeticon'' of Faliscus Gratius. Edmund Waller
Edmund Waller, FRS (3 March 1606 – 21 October 1687) was an English poet and politician who was Member of Parliament for various constituencies between 1624 and 1687, and one of the longest serving members of the English House of Commons.
S ...
addressed a copy of verses to Wase on this performance.[
In 1668, Wase published the first complete English-language edition of Phaedrus's ''Fables''. In 1678, he produced a survey of free schools throughout all of England; in many cases, his survey is the only surviving record of those schools' existence.Phaedrus, a new found yet ancient author: The rise and fall of Phaedrus as a standard school author, 1668-1828]
, by Anne Becher, ''Paradigm: Journal of the Textbook Colloquium'', No. 23 (July, 1997) ''Considerations concerning Free Schools in England'' (Oxford, 1678) urged an increase in the number of schools, and the claims of scholars on the wealthy.[
Besides the works mentioned, Wase also published:
* ''In Mirabilem Caroli II … restitutionem carmen gratulatorium'', London, 1660.
* ''Methodi practicæ specimen; an Essay of a Practical Grammar'', 1660; 8th edit. amended, 1682.
* ''English-Latin and Latin-English Dictionary'', 1661.
* Latin Version of Sir John Spelman's ''Life of Alfred'', 1678.
* Translation of Cicero's ''Tusculans'', 1683.
* ''Animadversiones Nonianæ'', Oxford, 1685.
* ''C. Wasii Senarius, sive de Legibus et Licentia veterum Poetarum'', Oxford, 1687.][
Thomas Hearne, in his preface to John Leland's ''Itinerary'', refers to Wase as an "eminent philologer". His manuscripts were preserved in the library of ]Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...
. A small oval portrait is mentioned by James Granger
James Granger (1723–1776) was an English clergyman, biographer, and print collector. He is now known as the author of the ''Biographical History of England from Egbert the Great to the Revolution'' (1769). Granger was an early advocate of an ...
.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wase, Christopher
1627 births
1690 deaths
17th-century English educators
People from the London Borough of Hackney
People educated at Eton College
Schoolteachers from Kent
Schoolteachers from Essex
Heads of schools in England