John Owen (epigrammatist)
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John Owen (c. 15641622) was a Welsh
epigrammatist An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for ...
, most known for his
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 ...
epigrams, collected in his ''Epigrammata''. He is also cited by various Latinizations including Ioannes Owen, Joannes Oweni, Ovenus and Audoenus.


Life, education, and career

Owen was born at Plas Du, Llanarmon, near
Snowdon Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (historic ...
, and was educated at
Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
under Dr
Thomas Bilson Thomas Bilson (1547 – 18 June 1616) was an Anglican Bishop of Worcester and Bishop of Winchester. With Miles Smith, he oversaw the final edit and printing of the King James Bible. Life Years under the Tudors (1547–1603) Thomas Bilson's fa ...
, and
New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
, from where he graduated as Bachelor of Civil Law in 1590. He was a fellow of his college from 1584 to 1591, when he became a schoolmaster, first at
Trelleck Trellech (occasionally spelt Trelech, Treleck or Trelleck; cy, Tryleg) is a village and parish in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. Located south of Monmouth and north-north-west of Tintern, Trellech lies on a plateau above the Wye Valley on ...
, near Monmouth, and then of The King's School at Warwick around 1595. His salary was doubled to £20 per year in 1614. On his death in 1622, Owen was buried in the old
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
, London, memorialised with a Latin epitaph, thanks to his countryman and relative, Bishop John Williams of Lincoln, who is also said to have supported him in his later years.


Epigrams

Owen became distinguished for his perfect mastery of the Latin language, and for the humour, felicity and point of his epigrams. His Latin epigrams, which have both sense and wit in a high degree, gained him much applause, and were translated into English, French, German, and Spanish. Owen had started writing epigrams while at Winchester – indeed, education there was largely devoted to the production of them – and his were good enough by the time he reached 16 years of age to be used in a ceremony held when
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
paid a state visit to Sir
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...
on his ship at
Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...
, on his return from sailing around the world. Owen started publishing his epigrams in 1606, whereupon they met with almost instant success throughout Europe, and the Continental scholars and wits of the day used to call him "the British
Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...
".


''Epigrammata''

Owen's ''Epigrammata'' are divided into twelve books, of which the first three were published in 1606, and the rest at four different times (1607, 1612, c. 1613, 1620 ). Owen frequently adapts and alters to his own purpose the lines of his predecessors in Latin verse. His epigrams proved popular for centuries after his death, appearing in numerous reprints, editions and translations.


Books

The numbering of the books can be confusing. They were originally published as 10 books in 4 volumes, with books numbered from 1 in each volume. There are thus 4 books entitled "Book I", distinguished by whom they were dedicated to. Later editions collected all volumes in one, numbering the books sequentially. Books XI and XII are later additions, in the 1620 Leipzig edition. Book XI is a collection of 128 moralising epigrams, titled ''Monosticha Quaedam Ethica et Politica Veterum Sapientum,'' and are not due to Owen: they are from the ''Disticha de Moribus'' of Michel Verino. Book XII is a collection of fragments by Owen. The original 4 volumes are: # ''Ioannis Audoeni Epigrammatum libri III,'' London, 1606 (dedicated to Lady Mary Neville, reprinted twice in 1607) # ''Epigrammatum Ioannis Owen…liber singularis,'' London, 1607 (dedicated to Lady Arabella Stuart) # ''Epigrammatum Ioannis Owen…Libri Tres,'' London, 1612 (the first two Books dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales, the third Book dedicated to Charles, Duke of York) # ''Epigrammatum Joannis Owen…libri Tres,'' London, 1613 (?) (three Books, dedicated respectively to Sir Edward Noel, Sir William Sedley, and Sir Roger Owen)


''Tempora mutantur''

The most popular of his epigrams is a variant of the traditional '' Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis''. ("Times change, and we change with them.") Owen's version reads in full: The popularity of his ''Epigrammata'' means that this adage is at times attributed to him, and
Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
likely nicknamed his Symphony No. 64 ''Tempora mutantur'' based on ''Epigrammata''. and


Editions and translations

There are editions of the ''Epigrammata'' by Elzevir and by Didot; the best is that edited by Renouard (2 vols., Paris, 1795). Translations into English, either in whole or in part, were made by John Vicars in ''Epigrams of that most wittie and worthie epigrammatist Mr. Iohn Owen, Gentleman'' (1619); by
Robert Hayman Robert Hayman (14 August 1575 – November 1629) was a poet, colonist and Proprietary Governor of Bristol's Hope colony in Newfoundland. Early life and education Hayman was born in Wolborough near Newton Abbot, Devon, the eldest of nine ch ...
, whose book ''Quodlibets''(1628) included epigrams by Owen; by
Thomas Pecke Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...
, in his ''Parnassi Puerperium'' (1659); and by Thomas Harvey in ''The Latine epigrams of John Owen'' (1677), which is the most complete. La Torre, the Spanish epigrammatist, owed much to Owen, and translated his works into Spanish in 1674. French translations of the best of Owen's epigrams were published by A. L. Lebrun (1709) and by Kerivalant (1819). ''Epic and Epigrams'' (1997) by David R. Slavitt contains translations of 60 of Owen's epigrams.


Conflict with the Roman Catholic Church

He was a staunch
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, and could not resist the temptation of turning his wit against the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, which resulted in ''Epigrammata'' being placed on the ''
Index Librorum Prohibitorum The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidden ...
'' in 1654, and led a rich old uncle of the Roman Catholic communion to cut him out of his will.


Notes


References

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Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, John 1560s births 1620s deaths People from Gwynedd People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford 16th-century Welsh writers 16th-century male writers 17th-century Welsh writers 17th-century male writers 17th-century Latin-language writers New Latin-language poets