John Lemprière ( in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

– 1 February 1824 in London) was an English classical scholar,

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

, theologian, teacher and headmaster.

Life

John Lemprière was the son of Charles Lemprière (died 1801), of Mont au Prêtre, Jersey. He received his early education at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

, where his father sent him in 1779, and from 1785 at Pembroke College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, probably on the advice of Richard Valpy, graduating BA in 1790, MA in 1792, BD in 1801, and DD in 1803. Lemprière may have been influenced by another Pembroke man, the lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson, whose famous ''

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 dictionary, dictionaries in the history of the English la ...

'' had appeared in 1755. A little over thirty years later, around 1786, Lemprière started work on his own Classical dictionary. In 1787, he was invited by Valpy to be assistant headmaster at Reading Grammar School, and in 1789, to the great pride of his father, he preached in

St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...

, Jersey. He achieved renown for his '' Bibliotheca Classica'' or ''Classical Dictionary containing a full Account of all the Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors'' (Reading, November 1788), which, edited by various later scholars, long remained a readable if not absolutely trustworthy reference book in

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

and

classical history Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilizations ...

. Lemprière wished "to give the most accurate and satisfactory account of all the proper names which occur in reading the Classics, and by a judicious collection of anecdotes and historical facts to draw a picture of ancient times, not less instructive than entertaining." (Lemprière, Preface, 1788). It has been a handbook for teachers, journalists, dramatists and poets for almost two hundred years and

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

is said to have known the book almost by heart. "Far from being just an ordinary dictionary, however, Lemprière's encyclopedic work is full of incidental details and stories which bring the mythical past to life." It is assumed that the great scholar Valpy helped Lemprière with the dictionary. Lemprière held a

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

's post at Bolton Grammar School in 1791 and was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

Radley Radley is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...

, Oxfordshire. From 6 August 1792 until his resignation in midsummer 1809, he was headmaster of Abingdon Grammar School, and in 1800 was also appointed as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of that parish, serving until 1811. While occupying these two posts, he published a ''Universal Biography of Eminent Persons in all Ages and Countries'' (London, 1808). His time at Abingdon School has been recorded as being a period of negligence on his part, which resulted in a decline of the School during the period. Numbers at the School began to decline in 1795 and the number of scholars (Charity boys) never exceeded two and there were only some six or so boarders. He failed to make use of the Bennett's endowment as a route towards Pembroke College and excluded the town boys from mixing with his boarders out of hours. He also failed to repair any of the School buildings. On 20 July 1798, the Borough records show that George Knapp (the Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames and a former Abingdon School pupil) headed a committee to confer with Lemprière regarding the Roysse's Ordinances. Lemprière has been the subject of complaints stating he had been negligent in his duties at the School and at St Nicolas' Church. In 1799 he was deprived of his

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

and was persuaded to resign from the school in 1809. In 1809 he succeeded to the headmastership of Exeter Free Grammar School and held this post until 1819. On retiring from this school, following a disagreement with the trustees, he received the

living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * ...

of Meeth in Devon, which, together with that of Newton St Petrock, he held until his death from a stroke in the Strand, London. He is buried in Meeth, where his grave can be found. Two of his sons were also rectors of Meeth: Francis Drocus Lemprière (born 1794) and Everard Lemprière (born 1800). His daughter Caroline, who died at the age of twenty-seven, was the first wife of John Bathurst Deane.

Publications

* "Bibliotheca Classica" or "Classical Dictionary containing a full Account of all the Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors", (Reading,1788) * "Sermon preché dans le Temple de la Paroisse de St. Helier, à Jersey, le deuxième d'Août." (1789) * "A Sermon preached at the opening of St. Peter's Chapel, Swinton, in the parish of Eccles, Lancashire, on Sunday, April 10, 1791." * "Herodotus" (a translation, Book 1 only), (1792) (References in: The Histories by Herodotus. G. C. Macaulay (1890) Reprint: Barnes and Noble, 2004) * "Universal Biography of Eminent Persons in all Ages and Countries", (London, 1808)

Posthumous publications

''Bibliotheca classica: or, A classical dictionary: containing a copious account of the principal proper names mentioned in ancient authors; with the value of coins, weights, and measures, used among the Greeks and Romans; and a chronological table, Volume 2'' (1833)

A classical dictionary
available in Project Gutenberg, published in United Kingdom by George Routledge and Sons in 1904.

Lemprière in fiction

The 1991 prize-winning novel ''Lemprière's Dictionary'' by Lawrence Norfolk has as its background Lemprière's writing of his dictionary, as well as the places the Lemprière family came from. The main character is John Lemprière, author of the ''Classical Dictionary'', and also his father, Charles Lemprière. The rest of the story is fiction. The poet Tony Harrison refers to Lemprière as the source of Keats's classical knowledge in his poem "A Kumquat for John Keats" in the line "Flora asphyxiated by foul air / unknown to Keats or Lemprière." The character Mr. Scogan expresses his admiration for Lemprière's work as a biographer and lexicographer in

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

's novel '' Crome Yellow'' (ch. XIV). In

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's '' Keep The Aspidistra Flying'' there is ''"You'll find it in Lempriere"'', a snark remark made by protagonist at Rosemary. In Gilbert and Sullivan's first joint operetta ''

Thespis Thespis (; ; fl. 6th century BC) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius (present-day Dionysos, Greece). According to certain Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was t ...

'' there are several references to Lempriere when the cast are arguing about their rightful positions in ancient Greek mythology. In Virginia Woolf's ''Between The Acts'', there is a reference to Lempriere to help find the origin of "Touch wood."

References

Sources