John Urry (1666 in

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– 18 March 1715 in Oxford,

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) was a noted

literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews.

and medieval scholar of Scottish family.

Life

Matriculating from Christ Church, Oxford on 30 June 1682, he was elected to a studentship. 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 yea ...

in 1686. However (his father

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was a major of the royal guards in Scotland at the Restoration, and his uncle

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

fought on both sides in the

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), the younger John Urry fought against Monmouth, and would not swear the oath of allegiance to William III on his accession, thereby losing his studentship. At the end of 1711, Christ Church's dean Francis Atterbury convinced a reluctant Urry to edit a proposed new edition of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Though the work was incomplete on Urry's death 4 years later (he is buried at

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dual r ...

) and had to be completed and revised by Timothy and William Thomas, Urry's work on it – the first edition of Chaucer to be entirely in Roman type – posthumously made his name.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Urry, John 1666 births 1715 deaths Scottish book editors Writers from Dublin (city) English people of Scottish descent Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British medievalists Burials at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford British literary editors