William Young Sellar - Imagines philologorum

William Young Sellar FRSE LLD (22 February 1825 – 12 October 1890) 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

Sellar was born at Morvich in Sutherland the son of

Patrick Sellar Patrick Sellar (1780–1851) was a Scottish lawyer, factor and sheep farmer. In 1811, he was employed as factor by the Sutherland Estate in a joint (but subordinate) position with William Young. The estate had started some clearances, integral t ...

of Westfield, Morayshire and his wife Anne Craig of Barmakelty, Moray. He was educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Ro ...

1832 to 1839 (dux in his final year) and afterwards studied classics at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, as a scholar. Graduating with a first-class in classics, he was elected fellow of Oriel, and, after holding assistant professorships at

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, Glasgow and St Andrews, was appointed professor of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

at St Andrews (1857). In 1863 he was elected professor of humanity in Edinburgh University, and occupied that chair until his death. In Edinburgh he lived at 15 Buckingham Terrace in the West End, near

Dean Bridge The Dean Bridge spans the Water of Leith in the city of Edinburgh on the A90 road to South Queensferry, Queensferry on the Firth of Forth. It carries the roadway, long and broad, on four arches rising above the river.H Coghill, ''Discover ...

. Sellar was one of the most brilliant of 19th century classical scholars, and was remarkably successful in his endeavours to reproduce the spirit rather than the letter of

Roman literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...

. In 1864 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being

Alexander Campbell Fraser Alexander Campbell Fraser (3 September 1819 – 2 December 1914) was a Scottish theologian and philosopher. Life He was born in the manse at Ardchattan, Argyll, the son of the parish minister, Rev Hugh Fraser, and his wife, Maria Helen Camp ...

. He was also awarded honorary doctorates (LLD) from both

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

and the University of Dublin. He died at Kenbank,

St John's Town of Dalry St John's Town of Dalry ( gd, Clachan Eòin), usually referred to simply as Dalry ( / 'dal-RYE'), is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire. Location St Johns Town is located close to the ...

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative count ...

on 12 October 1890.

Family

He was brother to Robert Sellar and Alexander Craig Sellar In 1851 he married Eleanor Dennistoun, daughter of Alexander Dennistoun. They had at least five children. Eleanor described her husband in a chapter of ''Recollections and impressions'' (1907), and their life in the remainder of the memoir.

Recognition

Sellar is commemorated on the south wall of Balliol College Chapel, together with a memorial to his brother Alexander Craig Sellar (MP for Haddington Burghs and

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...

Publications

*''The Roman Poets of the Republic'' (1863 plus later editions) * ''The Roman Poets of the Augustan Age'' (1877 plus later editions) * ''Horace and the Elegiac Poets'' (1892) -the 1899 edition has a memoir by

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...

A number of articles on Latin literature (including on

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His ...

Roman Literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ; – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into En ...

and Petronius) in the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'', 9th edition, 1875–89.Important Contributors to the ''Britannica'', 9th and 10th Editions
1902encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.

References

;Attribution *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sellar, William Young 1825 births 1890 deaths People educated at Edinburgh Academy Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Academics of Durham University Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish classical scholars People from Sutherland Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh