John Lemprière (~1765-1824) was a Classcist and teacher. He is best known for his Classical Dictionary.
Life[]
Born in Jersey around 1765, Lemprière was sent by his father to Winchester College and Pembroke College. Lemprière (possibly influenced by Samuel Johnson's dictionary) started work on his own Dictionary shortly after entering into college. Lemprière worked on this dictionary for several years and released it in November of 1788. The year previously, Lemprière was invited by one Richard Valpy (then headmaster at the Reading Grammar School) to be his assisstant. In 1789 (to the great pride of his father), Lemprière began preaching in St. Helier.
Lemprière was briefly a schoolmaster at Bolton Grammar School before becoming headmaster at Abingdon Grammar School. Allegedly, Lemprière's time at Abingdon was largely negative for the school. During this time, Lemprière became a vicar. One year after becoming a vicar, Lemprière's father died. He resigned from his position as a schoolmaster in 1809 and his time as a vicar ended two years later.
Shortly after leaving Abingdon, Lemprière became a headmaster at Exeter Free Grammar School. He held the post for ten years and left due to a disagreement with trustees. On leaving the Grammar School, Lemprière received a benefice from the village of Meeth. He held this benefice (along with one for the village of Newton St. Petrock) until his death in 1824 from a stroke while visiting the Strand.
Writing style[]
to be added
Notable works[]
- Bibliotheca Classica (or Classical Dictionary) - a dictionary of figures within Classical texts which became a preeminent work within Classicism
- Universal Biography of Eminent Persons in all Ages and Countries
Appearances in fiction[]
- Lawrence Norfolk's debut novel Lemprière's Dictionary is a heavily fictionalized recounting of Lemprière's early life and the construction of his dictionary.
- Lemprière and his works are mentioned in Aldous Huxley's Crome Yellow and George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Sources[]
- Wikipedia