Robert Scott (26 January 1811 – 2 December 1887) was a British academic

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

priest.

Biography

Scott was born on 26 January 1811 in

Bondleigh Bondleigh is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Taw, north of North Tawton. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 167. The parish church, is dedicated to Saint James and is grad ...

, Devon, England. He was educated at St Bees School in Cumbria, and

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...

in Shropshire. He studied classics at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts 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 ...

(BA) degree in 1833. Scott was ordained in 1835 and held the college living of Duloe, Cornwall, from 1845 to 1850. He was a

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

from 1845 to 1866 and rector of

South Luffenham South Luffenham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 432, increasing to 455 at the 2011 census. The village lies largely on the north side of the A6 ...

, Rutland, from 1850 to 1854 when he was elected

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. He served as

Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture The position of Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture was established at the University of Oxford in 1847. This professorship in the Biblical criticism, critical interpretation or explanation of Bible, biblical texts, a field ...

at Oxford from 1861 to 1870 and as the

Dean of Rochester The Dean of Rochester is the head of the chapter of canons at Rochester Cathedral, the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester. The current dean is Philip Hesketh, who has served in that role since June 2016. List of deans ...

from 1870 until his death in 1887. Scott is best known as the co-editor (with his colleague

Henry Liddell Henry George Liddell (; 6 February 1811– 18 January 1898) was dean (1855–1891) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–1874), headmaster (1846–1855) of Westminster School (where a house is now named after h ...

) of '' A Greek-English Lexicon'', the standard

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...

of the classical

Greek language Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...

. According to the 1925 edition of the ''Lexicon'', the project was originally proposed to Scott by the London bookseller and publisher

David Alphonso Talboys David Alphonso Talboys (c. 1790–1840) was an English bookseller, known as a publisher, translator, and local politician. Life Born about 1790, Talboys established himself as a bookseller in Bedford. He subsequently moved his business to Oxford, ...

; it was published by the

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 ...

. In 1872, Scott was taken with

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's "Jabberwocky" poem published the year before, and he wrote the first known German translation of the piece. He engaged Carroll in an exchange of letters wherein he jocularly claimed his German version, called "Der Jammerwoch", was the original, with Carroll's being the translation.

External links

*
Lexicon text at Perseus project
– includes basic biographical information about Scott from the 1925 edition of the ''Lexicon''
Biographical index to Benjamin Jowett papers
– brief biography of Scott
Balliol College Portraits Collection
– includes a portrait of Scott *

– elucidates Scott's 2/1872 "Jammerwoch" translation

– details Scott's epistolary exchange with Charles Dodgson, a.k.a. Lewis Carroll, and links to the "Jammerwoch" translation 1811 births 1887 deaths English classical scholars English lexicographers Deans of Rochester People educated at St Bees School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Masters of Balliol College, Oxford Dean Ireland's Professors of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture English philologists Scholars of Greek language Exeter Cathedral Clergy from Exeter 19th-century lexicographers Writers from Exeter {{England-academic-bio-stub