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Robert Shiels
Robert Shiels (also Shiells or Shields) (died 1753) was an English literary compiler. Life He was born in Roxburghshire around the end of the seventeenth century, and came to London as a journeyman printer. Samuel Johnson approved of him as a Jacobite, and gave him a place on the team of six helpers he used on his '' Dictionary''. Shiels died of consumption in May's Buildings, London, on 27 December 1753. Works Shiels was recommended to Ralph Griffiths and employed on the ''Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland to the time of Dean Swift'' (London, 5 vols. 1753), to which the name of Theophilus Cibber was attached. The compilation was mainly based on work of Gerard Langbaine Gerard Langbaine (15 July 1656 – 23 June 1692) was an English dramatic biographer and critic, best known for his ''An Account of the English Dramatic Poets'' (1691), the earliest work to give biographical and critical information on the playwrig ... and Giles Jacob, with the help of Thomas C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berwickshire to the north. To the south-west it borders Cumberland and to the south-east Northumberland, both in England. It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh, a town which declined markedly in the 15th century and is no longer in existence. Latterly, the county town of Roxburghshire was Jedburgh. The county has much the same area as Teviotdale, the basin drained by the River Teviot and tributaries, together with the adjacent stretch of the Tweed into which it flows. The term is often treated as synonymous with Roxburghshire, but may omit Liddesdale as Liddel Water drains to the west coast.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by, Francis Groome, publ. 2nd edition 1896. Article on Roxburghshire History The county appears to have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel 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 Dictionary of National Biography'' calls him "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, he attended Pembroke College, Oxford until lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London and began writing for ''The Gentleman's Magazine''. Early works include '' Life of Mr Richard Savage'', the poems ''London'' and ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' and the play ''Irene''. After nine years' effort, Johnson's '' A Dictionary of the English Language'' appeared in 1755, and was acclaimed as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". Later work included essays, an annotated '' The Plays of William Shakespeare'', and the apologue '' The History of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacobitism
, war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active = 1688–1780s , ideology = * Legitimist support for the senior line of the Stuarts * Indefeasible dynastic right * Divine right of kings * Irish nationalism * Scottish nationalism , leaders = , leader1_title = Military leaders , leader1_name = , headquarters = , area = British Isles , size = , allies = *Papal States (Until 1788) , opponents = Jacobitism (; gd, Seumasachas, ; ga, Seacaibíteachas, ) was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the British throne. The name derives from the first name of James II and VII, which in Latin translates as ''Jacobus''. When James went into exile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Dictionary Of The English Language
''A Dictionary of the English Language'', sometimes published as ''Johnson's Dictionary'', was published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson. It is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. There was dissatisfaction with the dictionaries of the period, so in June 1746 a group of London booksellers contracted Johnson to write a dictionary for the sum of 1,500 guineas (£1,575), equivalent to about £ in . Johnson took seven years to complete the work, although he had claimed he could finish it in three. He did so single-handedly, with only clerical assistance to copy the illustrative quotations that he had marked in books. Johnson produced several revised editions during his life. Until the completion of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' 173 years later, Johnson's was viewed as the pre-eminent English dictionary. According to Walter Jackson Bate, the Dictionary "easily ranks as one of the greatest single achievements of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Griffiths
Ralph Griffiths (c.1720 – 28 September 1803) was an English journal editor and publisher of Welsh extraction. In 1749, he founded London's first successful literary magazine, the ''Monthly Review'' (1749–1845), and remained its editor until his death in 1803. Biography Griffiths was born in Shropshire, England, but little is known of his early life; he began his career as a watchmaker at Stone, Staffordshire, before moving to London around 1741 to work for the Fleet Street bookseller Jacob Robinson. In 1747 Griffiths erected the warning ''Sign of the Dunciad'' outside of his own shop. Two years later he launched the ''Monthly Review'', which became an instant success and earned him an estimated £2,000 a year. The bookseller's sign warning dunces that ''The Monthly'' would have no mercy in exposing dull and uninteresting authors. Throughout his life, Griffiths was an avid collector of books, pamphlets and essays. He was an early campaigner for improving the literary stat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theophilus Cibber
Theophilus Cibber (25 or 26 November 1703 – October 1758) was an English actor, playwright, author, and son of the actor-manager Colley Cibber. He began acting at an early age, and followed his father into theatrical management. In 1727, Alexander Pope satirized Theophilus Cibber in his ''Dunciad'' as a youth who "thrusts his person full into your face" (III 132). On the stage, he was famous for playing Pistol in '' Henry IV, Part 2'', and some of the comic roles his father had played when younger, but unsympathetic critics accused him of overemphasis.Barker, p. 166 His private life later led Theophilus into bad reputation and scandal. He died in a shipwreck while bound for Ireland and a season in Dublin. Early life and career Theophilus Cibber was born during the Great Storm of 1703 and began acting in the Drury Lane Theatre at the age of 16 in 1721.Barker, p. 165 As a young man, Cibber was a notorious rake, and associated with young men of a similar mind and reputation, suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerard Langbaine
Gerard Langbaine (15 July 1656 – 23 June 1692) was an English dramatic biographer and critic, best known for his ''An Account of the English Dramatic Poets'' (1691), the earliest work to give biographical and critical information on the playwrights of English Renaissance theatre. He is sometimes called Junior or the Younger to distinguish him from his father (1609–58) of the same name, a Doctor of Divinity who was Provost of The Queen's College, Oxford (1646–58) and Keeper of the University Archives. Life The younger Langbaine was born in the parish of St. Peter-in-the-East, Oxford; his father's second son, he was apprenticed to a bookseller in St. Paul's Churchyard in London, but was sent to University after his older brother William died in 1672. He was educated at University College, Oxford, married, and settled in the neighborhood of Oxford. In 1690 he acquired a post at the University, as "yeoman bedel in arts," and in the following year was promoted to "esquire bedel o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giles Jacob
Giles Jacob (1686 – 8 May 1744) was a British legal writer whose works include a well-received law dictionary that became the most popular and widespread law dictionary in the newly independent United States.McDowell, Gary. The Language of Law and the Foundations of American Constitutionalism', p. 172 (2010). Jacob was the leading legal writer of his era, according to the Yale Law Library. The literary works of Giles Jacob did not fare as well as his legal ones, and he feuded with the poet Alexander Pope both publicly and in literary form. Pope named Jacob as one of the dunces in his 1728 ''Dunciad'', referring to Jacob as "the blunderbuss of the law". Jacob is remembered well for his legal writing, though not so much for his poetry and plays. Early life Giles was born in Romsey, Hampshire, and was baptized on 22 November 1686.Kilburn, Matthew. "Giles Jacob" in Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.'' vol. 29, 546–7. Lond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Coxeter
Thomas Coxeter (1689–1747) was an English literary antiquary. Life Born at Lechlade in Gloucestershire on 20 September 1689, he was educated at Coxwell, Berkshire, and at Magdalen School in Oxford. On 7 July 1705 he was entered a commoner of Trinity College, Oxford. Having completed his course, he came to London to practise the civil law; but in 1710, on the death of his patron, Sir John Cook, dean of arches, he abandoned the legal profession and devoted himself to literary and antiquarian pursuits. In 1747 he was appointed secretary to a society for the encouragement of an essay towards a complete English history. He died of a fever on 19 April 1747, and was buried in the chapel yard of the Royal Hospital of Bridewell. His daughter was supported by Samuel Johnson; she died in 1807. Works An elegy in a book entitled ''Astræa Lacrimans'', published anonymously in 1710, was probably written by Coxeter. In 1720 he contributed one or more of the indexes to John Hudson's edi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Thomson (poet, Born 1700)
James Thomson (c. 11 September 1700 – 27 August 1748) was a Scottish poet and playwright, known for his poems '' The Seasons'' and ''The Castle of Indolence'', and for the lyrics of "Rule, Britannia!" Scotland, 1700–1725 James Thomson was born in Ednam in Roxburghshire around 11 September 1700 and baptised on 15 September. He was the fourth of nine children of Thomas Thomson and Beatrix Thomson (née Trotter). Beatrix Thomson was born in Fogo, Berwickshire and was a distant relation of the house of Hume. Thomas Thomson was the Presbyterian minister of Ednam until eight weeks after Thomson's birth, when he was admitted as minister of Southdean, where Thomson spent most of his early years. Thomson may have attended the parish school of Southdean before going to the grammar school in Jedburgh in 1712. He failed to distinguish himself there. Shiels, his earliest biographer, writes: 'far from appearing to possess a sprightly genius, homsonwas considered by his schoolmaste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Year Of Birth Missing
A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hours of daylight, and, consequently, vegetation and soil fertility. In temperate and subpolar regions around the planet, four seasons are generally recognized: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In tropical and subtropical regions, several geographical sectors do not present defined seasons; but in the seasonal tropics, the annual wet and dry seasons are recognized and tracked. A calendar year is an approximation of the number of days of the Earth's orbital period, as counted in a given calendar. The Gregorian calendar, or modern calendar, presents its calendar year to be either a common year of 365 days or a leap year of 366 days, as do the Julian calendars. For the Gregorian calendar, the average length of the calendar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1753 Deaths
Events January–March * January 3 – King Binnya Dala of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom orders the burning of Ava, the former capital of the Kingdom of Burma. * January 29 – After a month's absence, Elizabeth Canning returns to her mother's home in London and claims that she was abducted; the following criminal trial causes an uproar. * February 17 – The concept of electrical telegraphy is first published in the form of a letter to ''Scots' Magazine'' from a writer who identifies himself only as "C.M.". Titled "An Expeditious Method of Conveying Intelligence", C.M. suggests that static electricity (generated by 1753 from "frictional machines") could send electric signals across wires to a receiver. Rather than the dot and dash system later used by Samuel F.B. Morse, C.M. proposes that "a set of wires equal in number to the letters of the alphabet, be extended horizontally between two given places" and that on the receiving side, "Let a ball be susp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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