Sir Thomas Stanley (1625 – 12 April 1678) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

author and translator.

Life

He was born in Cumberlow,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, the son of Sir Thomas Stanley of Cumberlow and his wife, Mary Hammond. Mary was the cousin of Richard Lovelace, and Stanley was educated in company with the son of

Edward Fairfax Edward Fairfax (c. 1580 – 27 January 1635) was an English translator. He translated Torquato Tasso's '' Jerusalem Delivered''. He also wrote an original work on demonology. Life He was the natural son of Sir Thomas Fairfax the elder, of ...

, the translator of

Tasso TASSO (Two Arm Spectrometer SOlenoid) was a particle detector at the PETRA particle accelerator at the German national laboratory DESY. The TASSO collaboration is best known for having discovered the gluon, the mediator of the strong interaction an ...

. He proceeded to Cambridge in 1637, in his thirteenth year, as a

gentleman commoner A commoner is a student at certain universities in the British Isles who historically pays for his own tuition and commons, typically contrasted with scholars and exhibitioners, who were given financial emoluments towards their fees. Cambridge ...

Pembroke Hall Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

. In 1641 he took his M.A. degree, but seems by that time to have proceeded to Oxford. He subsequently embarked on a legal career, entering the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

in 1664 to study law. He was wealthy, married early, and travelled much in Europe. He was the friend and companion, and at need the helper, of many poets, and was himself both a writer and a translator of verse. His portrait was painted by Sir

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

and by Sir

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to English and British monarchs from ...

; in all he was painted at least fifteen times.

Writing

Stanley is the last of the

metaphysical poets The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterised by the inventive use of conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spoken rather than lyrica ...

; born into a later generation than that of

Edmund Waller Edmund Waller, FRS (3 March 1606 – 21 October 1687) was an English poet and politician who was Member of Parliament for various constituencies between 1624 and 1687, and one of the longest serving members of the English House of Commons. S ...

and

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Den ...

, he rejected their influence in prosody and forms of fancy. He admired

Moschus Moschus ( el, Μόσχος), ancient Greek bucolic poet and student of the Alexandrian grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace, was born at Syracuse and flourished about 150 BC. Aside from his poetry, he was known for his grammatical work, nothing ...

Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; – c. 395) was a Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric from Burdigala in Aquitaine, modern Bordeaux, France. For a time he was tutor to the future emperor Gratian, who afterwards bestowed the consulship on him ...

, and the '' Pervigilium Veneris''; among the moderns, Joannes Secundus, Gongora and

Giambattista Marino Giovanni Battista was a common Italian given name (see Battista for those with the surname) in the 16th-18th centuries. It refers to " John the Baptist" in English, the French equivalent is "Jean-Baptiste". Common nicknames include Giambattista, G ...

. Stanley's major work was ''The History of Philosophy'', a series of critical biographies of philosophers, beginning with

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded ...

; the life of

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...

included a

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and Pa ...

translation of '' The Clouds of Aristophanes.'' It appeared in three volumes between 1655 and 1661. A fourth volume (1662), bearing the title of ''The History of Chaldaick Philosophy'', was translated into Latin by Jean Le Clerc (Amsterdam, 1690). The three earlier volumes were published in an enlarged Latin version by Gottfried Olearius (Leipzig, 1711). In 1664 Stanley published in folio a monumental edition of the text of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellen ...

is said to have appreciated his scholarship, and to have made use of Stanley's notes, on

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

Works

*''Poems'' (1647) *''Aurora and the Prince'', from the Spanish of

Juan Pérez de Montalbán Juan Pérez de Montalbán (1602 – 25 June 1638) was a Spanish Catholic priest, dramatist, poet and novelist. Biography He was born at Madrid. At the age of eighteen, he became a licentiate in theology. He was ordained priest in 1625, and appointe ...

; with ''Oronta, the Cyprian Virgin'', from the Italian of Girolamo Preti (1647) *Europa, Cupid Crucified, Venus Vigils (1649) *

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in t ...

; Bion; Moschus; Kisses by Secundus...'', a volume of translations (1651) *''The History of Philosophy'' (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Humphrey Moseley Humphrey Moseley (died 31 January 1661) was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century. Life Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" (a full member) of the Stationers Co ...

and

Thomas Dring Thomas Dring (died 1668) was a London publisher and bookseller of the middle seventeenth century. He was in business from 1649 on; his shop (as his title pages indicate) was located "at the sign of the George in Fleet Street, near St. Dunstan's ...

) in 1655, three volumes, (1655, 1656, 1660); a fourth was published in 1662. *"Psalterium Carolinum: The Devotions of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes And Sufferings" (1657), a verse rendering of the '' Eikon Basilike'' with music by John Wilson. *''Poems'' (1814) edited by

Samuel Egerton Brydges Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 1st Baronet (30 November 1762 – 8 September 1837) was an English bibliographer and genealogist. He was also Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1812 to 1818. Educated at Maidstone Grammar School and The King ...

*''Anacreon'' (1883) translation, edited by A. H. Bullen (with Greek original)

Family and death

Stanley's first wife was Dorothy Emyon, daughter and coheir of Sir James Emyon, of

Flore, Northamptonshire Flore (historically spelled as ''Floore'') is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. The village's name means 'Floor', perhaps referring to a Roman tessellated pavement. South of the neighbouring parish of Nether Heyford ...

, with issue Thomas Stanley (1650 – death unknown). After Dorothy's death, Stanley married

Catherine Killigrew Major-general, Major-General Granville Elliott, 1st Count Elliott (7 October 1713 – 10 October 1759), was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British military officer who served with distinction in several other European armies and subsequently in ...

, with no issue. He died at his lodgings in Suffolk Street,

Strand, London Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and i ...

on 12 April 1678, and was buried in the church of

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

. His widow died in Cumberlow in 1689.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Thomas Stanley Esquire (1649)
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Thomas 1625 births 1678 deaths People from North Hertfordshire District Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple 17th-century English historians Original Fellows of the Royal Society 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers English male poets