Richard Eden (c. 1520–1576) was an English alchemist and translator. His translations of the geographical works of other writers helped to foster enthusiasm for overseas exploration in
Tudor England.
Early life
Richard Eden, the son of a cloth merchant, attended
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
and then
Queens' College
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light sid ...
, graduating BA in 1538 and MA in 1544. As a protégé of
Sir Thomas Smith, Eden associated with intellectuals such as
John Cheke
Sir John Cheke (or Cheek) (16 June 1514 – 13 September 1557) was an English classical scholar and statesman. One of the foremost teachers of his age, and the first Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge, he played a great ...
and
Roger Ascham and served in a minor
Treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or ...
position from 1544 to 1546.
From the late 1540s Eden worked for Richard Whalley, who would be Sheriff of
Nottinghamshire in 1595. He was salaried at £20 per annum as he sought the secret of turning base metal into gold.
Eden set out to translate
Vannoccio Biringuccio
Vannoccio Biringuccio, sometimes spelled Vannocio Biringuccio (c. 1480 – c. 1539), was an Italian metallurgist. He is best known for his manual on metalworking, '' De la pirotechnia'', published posthumously in 1540.
20th Century translation by ...
's ''
De la pirotechnia
''De la Pirotechnia'' is considered to be one of the first printed books on metallurgy to have been published in Europe. It was written in Italian and first published in Venice in 1540. The author was Vannoccio Biringuccio, a citizen of Siena, ...
'' into English and had completed the first 22 chapters in 1552, but he made the mistake of lending out the manuscript and was unable to retrieve it. However, he included a translation of its first three chapters in his ''Decades of the new worlde'' of 1555, although he omitted Biringuccio's attack on alchemists.
[Introduction to ''The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio, translated from Italian with an introduction and notes by ]Cyril Stanley Smith
Cyril Stanley Smith (4 October 1903 – 25 August 1992) was a British metallurgist and historian of science. He is most famous for his work on the Manhattan Project where he was responsible for the production of fissionable metals. A graduate ...
and Martha Teach Gnudi
Martha Gnudi, née Teach (26 October 1908 – 30 April 1976) was an American medical historian and translator.
Life and work
Martha Gnudi was born in Sycamore, Illinois, on 26 October 1908. She was awarded a B.A. cum laude from the University o ...
'', New York: The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 1942, pp. xxi-xxii.
Overseas exploration
The new protector, the
Earl of Northumberland, wishing to challenge Spain's global empire and open up the Far East to European trade, spurred publications that helped to encourage this. Under his direction, Eden in 1552 became secretary to
Sir William Cecil
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...
and in 1553 published ''A Treatyse of the Newe India'', translating part of
Sebastian Muenster
Sebastian may refer to:
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* Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films and television
* ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film
* ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...
's
Cosmographia.
In 1555 Eden's ''
The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India'' translated the works of others, including some of
Pietro Martire d'Anghiera
Peter Martyr d'Anghiera ( la, Petrus Martyr Anglerius or ''ab Angleria''; it, Pietro Martire d'Anghiera; es, Pedro Mártir de Anglería; 2 February 1457 – October 1526), formerly known in English as Peter Martyr of Angleria,D'Anghier ...
's ''De orbe novo decades'' and ''Natural hystoria de las Indias'' from
Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés
Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (August 14781557), commonly known as Oviedo, was a Spanish soldier, historian, writer, botanist and colonist. Oviedo participated in the Spanish colonization of the West Indies, arriving in the first few year ...
. In 1561 he translated
Martín Cortés de Albacar's ''
Arte de navigar'' as ''The Arte of Navigation''. This was the first manual of navigation to appear in English.
In 1562 Eden became secretary to
Jean de Ferrieres
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jea ...
,
Vidame of Chartres
Vidame de Chartres was a title in the French nobility. There are a few vidame titles in France, of which that of Chartres is probably the best known, because a number of holders have been notable in widely different ways over the centuries. Vida ...
. He remained in de Ferrieres' service until 1572, travelling extensively with him in France and Germany. In September 1573 de Ferrieres wrote to Queen
Elizabeth I of England requesting that Eden be admitted as one of her
Poor Knights of Windsor.
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eden, Richard
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
Year of birth uncertain
1576 deaths
1520 births
16th-century English writers
16th-century male writers
English translators
16th-century translators
English alchemists
16th-century alchemists