Thomas Ruddiman (October 167419 January 1757) was a Scottish

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Life

He was born on a farm near Boyndie, three miles from Banff in Banffshire, where his father was a farmer. He was educated locally, then studied at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. Initially from 1695 he was schoolmaster in

Laurencekirk Laurencekirk (, sco, Lowrenkirk, gd, Eaglais Labhrainn), colloquially known as "The Lang Toun" or amongst locals as simply "The Kirk", is a small town in the historic county of Kincardineshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdee ...

. Then in 1700, through the influence of Dr Archibald Pitcairne, he became an assistant in the

Advocates' Library The Advocates Library, founded in 1682, is the law library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh. It served as the national deposit library of Scotland until 1925, at which time through an Act of Parliament the National Library of Scotland ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. He founded (1715) a successful printing business, and in 1728 was appointed printer to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 158 ...

. He acquired the '' Caledonian Mercury'' in 1729, and in 1730 was appointed keeper of the Advocates' Library, resigning in 1752. He is buried at

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16 ...

, Edinburgh. The monument was erected in 1801 by his relative, Dr William Ruddiman. It stands in the north-west section of the graveyard.

Family

He was married to Anna Smith (1694–1769).Inscription on tomb His nephew

Walter Ruddiman Walter Ruddiman (1719 – 6 June 1781) was a Scottish printer, publisher and newspaper proprietor based in Edinburgh. Born in Alvah, near Banff, in the North-East of Scotland, he was the youngest son of the farmer James Ruddiman (c. 1680 – ...

(1719–1781) also from Banff, similarly established a successful business in Edinburgh as a printer and publisher.

Works

His main early writings were editions of Florence Wilson's ''De Animi Tranquillitate Dialogus'' (1707), and the ''Cantici Solomonis Paraphrasis Poetica'' (1709) of Arthur Johnston (1587–1641), editor of the ''Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum''. On the death of Dr Pitcairne he edited his friend's

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

verses, and arranged for the sale of his valuable library to

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

. In 1714 he published ''Rudiments of the Latin Tongue'', which was long used in Scottish schools. In 1715 he edited, with notes and annotations, the works of

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

in two volumes folio. As Ruddiman was a Jacobite, Buchanan's

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

views invited his criticism. A society of scholars was formed in Edinburgh to "vindicate that incomparably learned and pious author from the calumnies of Mr Thomas Ruddiman"; but Ruddiman's remains the standard edition, though George Logan, John Love, James Man and others attacked him with vehemence. Other works were: An edition of Gavin Douglas's translation of Virgil's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the ...

'' (1710), with an extensive Older Scots glossary; the editing and completion of James Anderson's ''Selectus Diplomatum et Numismatum Scotiae Thesaurus'' (1739); Catalogue of the Advocates' Library (1733–42); and a famous edition of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

(1751). He also helped Joseph Ames with his ''Typographical Antiquities''. Ruddiman was for many years the representative scholar of Scotland. Writing in 1766,

Dr Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford D ...

, after reproving

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the English writer S ...

for some bad Latin, significantly adds--"Ruddiman is dead." When Boswell proposed to write Ruddiman's life, "I should take pleasure in helping you to do honour to him", said Johnson.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * . * .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddiman, Thomas 1674 births 1757 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen People associated with the University of Edinburgh Scottish book editors Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard People from Aberdeenshire Scottish businesspeople Scottish classical scholars Scottish librarians Scottish printers Scottish scholars and academics