Henry Meen (1744–1817) was an English cleric, academic and classical scholar. He is best known as authority on

Lycophron Lycophron (; grc-gre, Λυκόφρων ὁ Χαλκιδεύς; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, sophist, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely). Life and ...

Life

He was born at

Harleston Harleston may refer to: Places * Harleston, Devon *Harleston, Norfolk *Harleston, Suffolk People with the surname *Bernard W. Harleston (born 1930), American college administrator * Edward Harleston (1794–1826), American planter and politician ...

, Norfolk on 2 December 1744, the son of Henry Meen, an apothecary. He went to school in

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at the neck of a meand ...

. He entered

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

as a sizar on 9 October 1761, and graduated B.A. 1766, M.A. 1769, and B.D. 1776. He became a Fellow of his college.

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

in the Church of England, Meen was appointed to a minor canonry in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

; instituted to the rectory of St Nicholas Cole Abbey with

St Nicholas Olave St Nicholas Olave was a church in the City of London, on the west side of Bread Street Hill in Queenhithe Ward. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London and was never rebuilt. Instead the parish was united with that of St Nicholas Cole Abbe ...

, London, on 30 April 1792; and collated on 13 November 1795 as prebendary of Twyford in St Paul's Cathedral, where he also held the office of lecturer. He died at the rectory, Bread Street Hill, London, 3 January 1817, aged 72.

Works

Meen published, while an undergraduate, a poem in blank verse, called ''Happiness, a Poetical Essay'', London, 1766, which he later disowned. In 1780 Meen completed and saw through the press the unfinished translation of

Apollonius Rhodius Apollonius of Rhodes ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; la, Apollonius Rhodius; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and t ...

, by Francis Fawkes, and superintended its publication for the widow's benefit. To it he annexed his own independent version of the ''Rape of Helen, or the Origin of the Trojan War'', by Coluthus, which was afterwards included in the ''Works of the Greek and Roman Poets'' (vol. v.), the ''British Poets'' (vol. lxxxviii.), and in the collections of Robert Anderson and Alexander Chalmers. His other works were: *''A Sermon before the Association of Volunteers'', 1782; *''Remarks on the Cassandra of Lycophron: a Monody'', 1800; *''Succisivæ Operæ; or, Selections from Ancient Writers, with Translations and Notes'', 1815. His criticisms on Lycophron appeared in the ''

European Magazine ''The European Magazine'' (sometimes referred to as ''European Magazine'') was a monthly magazine published in London. Eighty-nine semi-annual volumes were published from 1782 until 1826. It was launched as the ''European Magazine, and London Rev ...

'' from 1796 to 1813, but his complete translation was never published, and was sold with his books and manuscripts by Sotheby on 17 March 1817 and four following days.

Reputation

Gilbert Wakefield Gilbert Wakefield (1756–1801) was an English scholar and controversialist. He moved from being a cleric and academic, into tutoring at dissenting academies, and finally became a professional writer and publicist. In a celebrated state trial ...

described Meen as "pacific, gentle, unassuming," and speaks of him''Correspondence with Charles James Fox'', p. 177, as having studied the writings of Lycophron more than any man living. The title of "Little Meen" was applied to him by

George Steevens George Steevens (10 May 1736 – 22 January 1800) was an English Shakespearean commentator. Biography Early life He was born at Poplar, the son of a captain and later director of the East India Company. He was educated at Eton College and at ...

, who described him as "confused and irregular in all his undertakings", learned but desultory. When Meen told

Samuel Parr Samuel Parr (26 January 1747 – 6 March 1825), was an English schoolmaster, writer, minister and Doctor of Law. He was known in his time for political writing, and (flatteringly) as "the Whig Johnson", though his reputation has lasted less well ...

that he purposed undertaking an edition of Lycophron's works, Parr remarked that "many books have been well edited by men who were no scholars."

Associations

Meen corrected the proofs of Thomas Percy's lost work ''Blank Verse before Milton'', which was destroyed in the fire at the printing-office of Messrs. Nichols. Many letters from him to Percy are in Nichols's ''Illustrations of Literature'' (vii. 38–68). He was employed to collect and pass through the press a volume of poems, ''Alonzo and Cora'', by Elizabeth Scot (1729–1789) of Edinburgh, which came out in 1801.

James Peller Malcolm James Peller Malcolm (1767–1815) was an American-English topographer and engraver. Life Son of a merchant in Philadelphia, he was born there in August 1767. He was admitted to the Quaker school; but his family left to avoid the fighting in Ameri ...

when engaged in compiling his ''Londinium Redivivum'', obtained through Meen permission to consult the archives of St Paul's Cathedral.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Meen, Henry 1744 births 1817 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests English classical scholars English translators Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge 18th-century English Anglican priests