John Upton (1707–2 December 1760) was an English clergyman, academic and critic. An important early editor of

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...

, he is best known for the notes in his 1758 edition of Spenser's great romance epic ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

'', which was first published in 1590 (books 1-3) and 1596 (books 4-6). Upton was educated at

Oxford University 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 ...

, where he was a college fellow. The notes in his edition of ''The Faerie Queene'' attempted to link the poem to events in Spenser's life, and characters in the poem with historical figures.David Hill Radcliffe, ''Edmund Spenser: a reception history'', Camden House, 1996, p.62

Life

Born at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, he was the second son of James Upton and his wife Mary Proctor. He was educated by his father and at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, where he matriculated in 1724. In 1728 he was elected fellow of Exeter College, graduating B.A. 1730, M.A. 1732. He resigned his fellowship in 1736. In 1732 Lord Powlett gave him the rectory of Seavington with Donnington, Somerset; later Earl Talbot gave him the rectory of

Great Rissington Great Rissington is a village in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The population taken at the 2011 census was 367. History In the First World War, the Souls family lost 5 of their 6 children in war. The were paid a shilling ...

, Gloucestershire. On 19 January 1637 he was admitted prebendary of Rochester, and he also held the sinecure rectory of Landrillo, Denbigh. Upton died unmarried at Taunton on 2 December 1760. Among his pupils at Oxford was

Jonathan Toup Jonathan Oannes Toup (19 December 1713 – 19 January 1785) was an English philologist, classical scholar and critic. Early life and education Toup was born at St Ives, Cornwall in December 1713 and baptised on 5 January 1714. After th ...

Works

Upton published: *(ed.)

Epictetus Epictetus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκτητος, ''Epíktētos''; 50 135 AD) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present-day Pamukkale, in western Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, when ...

, ''To tou Epiktētou Encheiridion'', an edition of

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

's ''Epictetus'', 1739–41, 1744, incorporated by

Johann Schweighäuser Johann Schweighäuser (; french: Jean Geoffroy Schweighaeuser; June 25, 1742 – January 19, 1830), was a French classical scholar. Biography He was born at Strasbourg, the son of a pastor of the church of Saint Thomas. From an early age his ...

in his edition of 1799 *''Critical observations on Shakespeare'', 1746 *''Remarks on three plays of Benjamin Jonson Viz. Volpone, or The Fox : Epicoene, or The Silent Woman : and The Alchemist'', 1749 *(ed.) ''Spenser's Faerie Queene'', 1758

References

* John G. Radcliffe's article in the ''Spenser Encyclopedia'', p. 706

External links

* ;Attribution 1707 births 1760 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests English literary critics Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford People from Taunton English male non-fiction writers {{Poetry-stub