John Stuart Blackie

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(28 July 1809 – 2 March 1895) was a Scottish scholar and

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

Biography

He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, on Charlotte Street, the son of Kelso-born banker Alexander Blackie (d.1846) and Helen Stodart. He was educated at the New Academy and afterwards at the

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

, in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, where his father was manager of the Commercial Bank. After attending classes at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

(1825–1826), Blackie spent three years at

as a student of theology. In 1829 he went to Germany, and after studying at

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

and Berlin (where he came under the influence of

Heeren Heeren is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal,Müller,

Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional ...

Neander Neander may refer to: ;Surname * August Neander (1789–1850), a German theologian and church historian * Ernst Neumann-Neander (1871–1954), founder of the now defunct Neander motorcycle manufacturer * Joachim Neander (1650–1680), Calvinist tea ...

and Böckh) he accompanied Bunsen to Italy and Rome. The years spent abroad extinguished his former wish to enter the Church, and at his father's desire he gave himself up to the study of law. He had already, in 1824, been placed in a lawyer's office, but only remained there six months. By the time he was admitted a member of the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...

(1834) he had acquired a strong love of the

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and a taste for letters in general. A translation of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

's ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'', which he published in 1834, met with considerable success, winning the approbation of Carlyle. After a year or two of desultory literary work he was (May 1839) appointed to the newly instituted chair of Humanity (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

) in the Marischal College. Difficulties arose in the way of his installation, owing to the action of the Presbytery on his refusing to sign unreservedly the

Confession of Faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

; but these were eventually overcome, and he took up his duties as professor in November 1841. In the following year he married. From the first his professorial lectures were conspicuous for the unconventional enthusiasm with which he endeavoured to revivify the study of the classics; and his growing reputation, added to the attention excited by a translation of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

which he published in 1850, led to his appointment in 1852 to the professorship of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, in succession to George Dunbar, a post which he continued to hold for thirty years. He was somewhat erratic in his methods, but his lectures were a triumph of influential personality. A journey to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in 1853 prompted his essay ''On the Living Language of the Greeks'', a favorite theme of his, especially in his later years; he adopted for himself a modern Greek pronunciation, and before his death he endowed a travelling scholarship to enable students to learn Greek at

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Scottish nationality was another source of enthusiasm with him; and in this connection he displayed real sympathy with

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

home life and the grievances of the crofters. The foundation of the

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic chair at Edinburgh University was mainly due to his efforts. In spite of the many calls upon his time he produced a considerable amount of literary work, usually on classical or Scottish subjects, including some poems and songs of no mean order. Blackie was a

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

and

Scottish nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, progressing into t ...

in politics, of a fearlessly independent type; possessed of great

conversation Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

al powers and general versatility, his picturesque eccentricity made him one of the characters of the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

of the day, and a well-known figure as be went about in his plaid, worn

shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

-wise, over one shoulder and under the other, wearing a broad-brimmed hat, and carrying a big stick. In the 1880s and 1890s, he lectured at Oxford on the pronunciation of Greek, and corresponded on the subject with William Hardie. In May 1893, he gave his last lecture at Oxford, but afterwards admitted defeat, stating: "It is utterly in vain here to talk reasonably in the matter of Latin or Greek pronunciation: they are case-hardened in ignorance, prejudice and pedantry". He died at 9 Douglas Crescent in Edinburgh. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

to the north side of the central path in the north section of the original cemetery. His nephew and biographer, Archibald Stodart Walker (1869-1934) is buried with him. In 1895 a plaque, designed by

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothi ...

was erected to his memory in

St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended ...

Publications

All printed by David Douglas. *''Lyrical Poems'' (1860) *''Lays of the Highlands and Islands'' (1872) *''Horae Hellenicae'' (1874) *''On Self-Culture, Intellectual, Physical and Moral'' (1874)
''The Wise Men of Greece''
(1877)
''The Wisdom of Goethe''
(1883) *''A Song of Heroes'' (1890)

Family

Blackie married Elizabeth (known as Eliza) Wyld in 1842. They had no children. She is buried with him. He was the uncle of Sir

Alexander Kennedy Sir Alexander Blackie William Kennedy FRS, FRGS (17 March 1847 – 1 November 1928), better known simply as Alexander Kennedy, was a leading British civil and electrical engineer and academic. A member of many institutions and the recipient ...

Gallery

File:John Stewart Blackie by David Octavius Hill, 1845.jpg, Blackie circa 1845 by

Hill & Adamson Hill & Adamson was the first photography studio in Scotland, set up by painter David Octavius Hill and engineer Robert Adamson in 1843. During their brief partnership that ended with Adamson's untimely death, Hill & Adamson produced "the first s ...

. File:Blackie, by Moffat.jpg, Prof. Blackie, by John Moffat. File:John Stuart Blackie.jpg, John Stuart Blackie, by Herbert Rose Barraud, Carbon Print, 1890. File:J. S. Blackie.jpg, John Stuart Blackie, by Elliott & Fry, Albumen Carte-de-visite, 1860s. File:Professor blackie.jpg, John Stuart Blackie, by John Moffat, Albumen Carte-de-visite on Paper Mount, 1860s. File:Cassell's Blackie.jpg, Portrait of John Blackie, Cassell's National Portrait Gallery, circa 1880s. File:Blackie, by Reid.jpg, Professor John Stuart Blackie, by Sir George Reid, 1893. File:Bust of Blackie.jpg, Bust of John Stuart Blackie, in 1835. File:Blackie's Cartoon.jpg, "From a Political Cartoon, 1880." File:Blackie.jpg, Professor Blackie, by Macara, 1877. File:Blackie, 45.jpg, "The Professor at the Age of 45." File:Blackie by Reid.jpg, Blackie, by Sir George Reid, 1870. File:JohnBlackie.jpg, John Blackie, by Somerled Macdonald. File:Blackie by Lorimer.jpg, Blackie, by John Henry Lorimer.

Works

The hymn he wrote on his honeymoon, "Angels holy, high and lowly," has been called his most enduring work.
''Education in Scotland: An Appeal to the Scottish People, on the Improvement of their Scholastic and Academical Institutions,''
W. Tait, 1846.
''The Pronunciation of Greek: Accent and Quantity, a Philological Inquiry,''
Sutherland & Knox, 1852.
''Classical Literature in its Relation to the Nineteenth Century and Scottish University Education,''
Sutherland and Knox, 1852.
''On Beauty: Three Discourses Delivered in the University of Edinburgh,''
Sutherland and Knox, 1858.
''Homer and the Iliad,''Vol. 2Vol. 3Vol. 4
Edmonston & Douglas, 1866

English translations of Homer Translators and scholars have translated the main works attributed to Homer, the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'', from the Homeric Greek into English since the 16th and 17th centuries. Translations are ordered chronologically by date of first publicatio ...

].
''War Songs of the Germans,''
Edmonston and Douglas, 1870.
''Four Phases of Morals: Socrates, Aristotle, Christianity, Utilitarianism,''
Edmonston and Douglas, 1871.
''On Self-Culture,''
Edmonston & Douglas, 1874 articularly recommended by James Wood
''Horae Hellenicæ, Essays and Discussion on Some Important Points of Greek Philology and Antiquity,''
Macmillan & Co., 1874.
''Four Phases of Morals: Socrates, Aristotle, Christianity, Utilitarianism,''
Edmonston and Douglas, 1874.
''The Language and Literature of the Scottish Highlands,''
Edmonston and Douglas, 1876.
''Songs of Religion and Life,''
Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1876.
''The Natural History of Atheism,''
Scribner, Armstrong & Company, 1878 st Pub. 1877
''The Wise Men of Greece,''
Macmillan and Company, 1877.
''Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece,''
William Blackwood & Sons, 1880.
''Faust: A Tragedy,''
Macmillan & Co., 1880 econd ed.
''Lay Sermons''
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1881. * ''Altavona; Fact and Fiction From my Life in the Highlands,'' D. Douglas, 1882.
''The Wisdom of Goethe,''
William Blackwood & Sons, 1883.
''The Scottish Highlanders and the Land Laws,''
Chapman and Hall, 1885.
''What does History Teach?: Two Edinburgh Lectures,''
Macmillan and Co., 1886.
''Life of Robert Burns,''
Walter Scott, 1888.
''Scottish Song: its Wealth, Wisdom, and Social Significance,''
W. Blackwood and Sons, 1889.
''A Song of Heroes,''
William Blackwood & Sons, 1890.
''Essays on Subjects of Moral and Social Interest,''
David Douglas, 1890.
''Christianity and the Ideal of Humanity,''
David Douglas, 1893. Amongst his political writings, may be mentioned:
''On Democracy,''
Edmonston & Douglas, 1867.Jones, Ernest Charles. ''Democracy Vindicated: A Lecture Delivered to the Edinburgh Working Men's Institute on 4 January 1867, in Reply to Professor Blackie's Lecture on Democracy, Delivered on the Previous Evening,'' Andrew Elliot, 1867.
''The Constitutional Association on Forms of Government: A Historical Review and Estimate of the Growth of the Principal Types of Political Organism in Europe,''
Edmonston and Douglas, 1867. * ''Political Tracts,'' 1868.

Selected articles

"Prussia in the Nineteenth Century,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XXIX, December 1876/May 1877.
"The Scot,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XXXIII, August 1878.
"On a Radical Reform in the Method of Teaching the Classical Languages,"
''The Contemporary Review'', Vol. XXXIV, 1879.
"Landlords and Land Laws,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XXXVII, January/June 1880.
"Problem of the Homeric Poems,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XXXVIII, July/December 1880.
"The Philosophy of the Beautiful,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XLIII, January/June, 1883.
"Scotland Today,"
''The Forum,'' Vol. V, 1888.
"The Christianity of the Future,"
''The Forum,'' Vol. X, 1890.
"Shakespeare and Modern Greek,"
''The Nineteenth Century,'' Vol. XXX, July/December, 1891.
"John Knox,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LXII, August 1892.
"The Method of Teaching Languages,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LXVII, January/June 1895. * "Modern Greece," ''The Forum,'' March 1897.

Notes

References

* * This work in turn cites: ** Anna M. Stoddart
''John Stuart Blackie,''Vol. 2
W. Blackwood, 1895. ** A. Stodart-Walker
''Selected Poems of J. S. Blackie, with an Appreciation,''
John Macqueen, 1896. ** Howard Angus Kennedy
''Professor Blackie, his Sayings and Doings: A Biographical Sketch with Illustrations,''
James Clarke, 1895.

External links

* *
Blackie's Inaugural Lecture on Classical Literature and Scottish University Education in the 19th CenturyBlackie's "On the Advancement of Learning in Scotland"Blackie's "The Scottish Highlanders and the Land Laws: An Historico-Economical Enquiry"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackie, John Stuart 1809 births 1895 deaths 19th-century British journalists 19th-century British male writers 19th-century British translators 19th-century essayists 19th-century Scottish historians 19th-century Scottish writers Academics of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British male essayists British male journalists Male biographers Members of the Faculty of Advocates New Latin-language poets Scottish biographers Scottish essayists Scottish literary critics Scottish poets Scottish political writers Scottish politicians Scottish songwriters Scottish translators Translators of Homer Writers from Glasgow