Revd John Trusler (1735–1820) was an eccentric English
divine
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine ...](_blank)
, literary compiler, and medical empiric.
Early life
Trusler was born in
Hanover Square,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, in July 1735.
[Emma Major, "Trusler, John (1735–1820)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ]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 ...
, 2004, online edition, January 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014. His father was the proprietor of the public
tea garden
A tea garden is an outdoor space or garden where tea and light refreshments are served, or any garden with which the drinking of tea is associated. Especially in India, it is also a common term for a tea plantation. The tea garden was a part o ...
s at
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
. In his tenth year, he was sent to
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
, and at the age of fifteen he was transferred to Mr Fountaine's fashionable seminary at Marylebone. Next he proceeded to
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 ...
, whence he graduated
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1757. On his return home he translated from the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
several
burletta
In theater and music history, a burletta (Italian, meaning "little joke", sometimes burla or burlettina) is a brief comic opera. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comic intermezzo between the acts of an ''opera seria''. The extended w ...
s and adapted them to the English stage. One of these, he says, was 'La Serva Padrona,' or the 'Servant-Mistress,' of
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), often referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera ''L ...
, performed in
Marylebone Gardens
Marylebone Gardens or Marybone Gardens was a London pleasure garden sited in the grounds of the old manor house of Marylebone and frequented from the mid-17th century, when Marylebone was a village separated from London by fields and market garde ...
in 1757; but it seems that the real translator was
Stephen Storace
Stephen John Seymour Storace (4 April 1762 – 19 March 1796) was an English composer of the Classical era, known primarily for his operas. His sister was the famous opera singer Nancy Storace.
He was born in London in the Parish of St Marylebo ...
.
Ordination
Trusler took
holy orders, becoming a priest in 1759. He was
curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
successively of
Enford
Enford is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, in the northeast of Salisbury Plain. The village lies southeast of Devizes and north of Salisbury. The parish includes nine small settlements along both banks of the headwaters of the ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, of
Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
*Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
*Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
*Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County, Al ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, at
Hertford
Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...
, at the
Hythe
Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to:
Places Australia
* Hythe, Tasmania
Canada
*Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada
England
* T ...
church,
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
, of
Ockley
Ockley is a rural village in Surrey. It lies astride the A29, the modern road using the alignment of Stane Street (Chichester). The A29 diverges from the A24 from London about 2.5 miles northeast and takes the alignment of Stane Street a mile ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, and of
St Clement Danes
St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...
in the
Strand, London
Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4 ...
. In 1761, Dr Bruce, the king's chaplain at
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...
, employed him as his assistant and procured for him the chaplaincy to the
Poultry Compter
Poultry Compter (also known as Poultry Counter) was a small prison that stood at Poultry, part of Cheapside in the City of London. The compter was used to lock up minor criminals and prisoners convicted under civil law and was run by the Ci ...
. He also held a lectureship in the city. At this period he took a house at
Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...
.
However, clerical work was not enough for Trusler. In 1762, he established an academy for teaching oratory 'mechanically,' but, as it did not pay, he soon gave it up. To acquire a knowledge of physic he admitted himself a perpetual pupil of Drs Hunter and Fordyce. He then went to
Leyden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
to take the degree of
M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
, but his name does not appear in the catalogue of graduates in that university. However, he either obtained or assumed the title of doctor, and he is frequently styled
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
He superintended for some time the Literary Society established in 1765 with the object of abolishing publishers.
In 1769, Trusler sent circulars to every parish in England and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
proposing to print in script type, in imitation of handwriting, about a hundred and fifty sermons at the price of one shilling each, to save the clergy both study and the trouble of transcribing. This scheme appears to have met with success. Trusler next established a printing and bookselling business upon an extensive and lucrative scale. At one time he resided in Red Lion Street,
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England.
Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington.
The well after which it was named was redisco ...
, and also at
Boyle Street
Boyle Street is a neighbourhood located in central Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, immediately east of the downtown core. The neighbourhood is bounded by Grierson Hill to Rowland Road until Alex Taylor Road and then Jasper Avenue east until 82 Street ...
. He afterwards lived at
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
on the profits of his trade, and subsequently on an estate of his own at
Englefield Green
Englefield Green is a large village in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. It is home to Royal Holloway, University of London.
The village grew from a hamlet in the 19th century, when much of Egham ( ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
. In 1806, he published at Bath the first part of his autobiography, entitled ''The Memoirs of the Life of the Revd. Dr. Trusler'', 4to. Only part i. appeared, and, it is said, the author sought to suppress it. The remainder of the memoirs in Trusler's autograph were in 1851 in the possession of
James Crossley of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. Trusler died in 1820 at the Villa House,
Bathwick
Bathwick is an electoral ward in the City of Bath, England, on the opposite bank of the River Avon to the historic city centre.
Bathwick was part of the hundred of Bath Forum.
The district became part of the Bath urban area with the 18th cent ...
, Bath. He married in 1759, his wife dying in December 1762. His portrait has been engraved.
Selected publications
Among Trusler's numerous publications are:
*‘The Difference between Words esteemed Synonyms, in the English Language; and the proper choice of them determined’ (anon.), 2 vols., London, 1766, 12mo. A second edition, with the author's name, appeared in 1783; third edition, 2 vols., 1794; reprinted 1835.
*‘Hogarth Moralized. Being a complete edition of Hogarth's Works. Containing near fourscore copperplates,’ London, 1768, 8vo. This was published with the approval of the widow of the painter. There is a later edition, 2 vols., London, 1821, fol., with inferior impressions of the plates. The edition prepared by John Major, London, 1831, 8vo, contains a new set of plates, beautifully engraved. To the edition in two vols., 1838, 4to, ‘are added Anecdotes of the Author and his work by J. Hogarth and J. Nichols.’ Trusler's explanations of the plates are likewise included in ‘The Complete Works of Hogarth,’ London, 1861–2, 4to.
*‘Chronology: or, a concise view of the Annals of England,’ London, 1769, 12mo; republished under the title of ‘Chronology, or the Historian's Vade Mecum,’ 4th edit., with great additions, London, 1772, 8vo; 14th edit., enlarged, 3 vols., 1792–1802.
*‘Principles of Politeness,’ being a compilation from ‘Lord Chesterfield's Letters,’ 1775; 18th edit.
790
__NOTOC__
Year 790 ( DCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 790 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
reprinted under the title of 'The New Chesterfield'
836?
*'A descriptive Account of the Islands lately discovered in the South Seas. … With some Account of the Country of Camchatka,' London, 1778, 8vo. This is an abridgment of 'Cooke's Voyages.’
*'Practical Husbandry, or the Art of Farming, with certainty of gain,' London, 1780, 8vo; 5th edit., Bath, 1820, 8vo.
*'Luxury no Political Evil'
780?
*'Poetic Endings, or a Dictionary of Rhymes, single and double,' London, 1783, 12mo.
*'A concise View of the Common and Statute Law of England,' 1784, being an abridgment of Blackstone's Commentaries.
*'The Sublime Reader, or the Morning & Evening Services of the Church so pointed … as to display all the Beauty and Sublimity of the Language,' 1784.
*'Compendium of Useful Knowledge,' 1784.
*'Modern Times, or the Adventures of Gabriel Outcast,' a satirical novel, in the manner of Gil Blas (anon.), 3 vols., 1785.
*'The London Adviser and Guide,' 1786 and 1790.
*'The Honours of the Table, or Rules for Behaviour during Meals; with the whole Art of Carving,' London, 1788, 12mo; 5th edit., Bath, 1795.
*'A Compendium of Useful Knowledge,' London, 1788, 12mo; 6th edit., Bath
800? 12mo.
*'The Habitable World described,' 20 vols. London, 1788–97, 8vo.
*'Six Years Travel Through Tartary', 1788, translating the travels of
Peter Simon Pallas
Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussian zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia between 1767 and 1810.
Life and work
Peter Simon Pallas was born in Berlin, the son ...
in eastern Russia.
*'The Progress of Man and Society,' with woodcuts by J. Bewick, Bath
790? 12mo; London, 1791, 12mo.
*'Proverbs Exemplified, and illustrated by pictures from real life. … With prints by J. Bewick,' London, 1790, 12mo.
*'Life, or the Adventures of William Ramble, Esq.' (anon.), a novel, 3 vols., 1793.
*'Monthly Communications,' a periodical publication, 1793.
*'The Way to be Rich and Respectable,' 7th edit., London, 1796, 8vo.
*'A Compendium of Sacred History,' 1797, being a compilation from Stackhouse's History of the Bible.
*'A System of Etiquette.' Bath, 1804, 12mo; 3rd edit., London, 1828.
*'Detached Philosophic Thoughts of the best Writers, ancient and modern, on Man, Life, Death, and Immortality,' 2 vols., Bath,
810
__NOTOC__
Year 810 ( DCCCX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* Spring – The Venetian dukes change sides again, submitting to Ki ...
8vo.
*'A Sure Way to lengthen Life with Vigor; particularly in Old Age; the result of Experience. Written by Dr. Trusler at the age of 84,' 2 vols., Bath, 1819, 8vo. This is based on 'A Sure Way to lengthen Life,' which was printed in 1770 and passed through five editions.
References
Sources
*Autobiography; Annuaire Nécrologique, 1822, p. 339.
*''Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors'', 1816, pp. 355, 447.
*''Critical Review'', 1780, p. 442.
*''Cromwell's Clerkenwell'', p. 171.
*''Pinks's Clerkenwell''.
*''Donaldson's Agricultural Biography'', p. 65.
*''
The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...
''. 1778 p. 85, 1804 ii. 1105, 1820 ii. 89, 120, 1854 i. 114.
*''London Chronicle'', 18 January 1770, advertisement.
*Lowndes's Bibl. Man. (Bohn).
*''Marshall's Catalogue of 500 celebrated Authors'', 1788.
*''New Monthly Magazine''. 1820, ii. 353.
*''Nichols's Life of Hogarth''.
*''Notes and Queries'', 3rd ser. iii. 133, 5th ser. iv. 345.
*''Rivers's Literary Memoirs of Living Authors'', 1798, ii. 329.
*''St. James's Chronicle'', 26 January 1769.
*Catalogue of Dawson Turner's MSS. p. 287.
*''Willis's Current Notes'', 1853, p. 41.
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trusler, John
1735 births
1820 deaths
People from Mayfair
People educated at Westminster School, London
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Leiden University alumni
English printers
English booksellers
18th-century English Anglican priests
English autobiographers
English male non-fiction writers