William Oldys (14 July 1696 - 15 April 1761) was an English poet, antiquarian and bibliographer.
William Oldys (1696-1761) by E. Balston, 1795. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Life[]
Oldys was the illegitimate son of Dr. William Oldys (born 22 October 1636), chancellor of Lincoln, who had held the office of Advocate of the Admiralty, but had lost it in 1693 because he would not prosecute as traitors and pirates the sailors who had served against England under James II.[1]
William Oldys, the younger, lost part of his small patrimony in the South Sea Bubble, and in 1724 went to Yorkshire, spending the greater part of the next 6 years as the guest of the earl of Malton.[1]
On his return to London he found that his landlord had disposed of the books and papers left in his charge. Among these was an annotated copy of Gerard Langbaine's Dramatick Poets. The book came into the hands of Thomas Coxeter, and subsequently into those of Theophilus Cibber, furnishing the basis of the Lives of the Poets (1753) published with Cibber's name on the title page (though most of it was written by Robert Shiels).[1]
In 1731 Oldys sold his collections to Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, who appointed him his literary secretary in 1738. 3 years later Harley died, and from that time Oldys worked for the booksellers.[1]
His habits were irregular, and in 1751 his debts drove him to the Fleet prison. After 2 years' imprisonment he was released through the kindness of friends who paid his debts, and in April 1755 he was appointed Norfolk Herald Extraordinary and then Norroy King of Arms by the Duke of Norfolk.[1]
Writing[]
Oldys's chief works are: The British Librarian, a review of scarce and valuable books in print and in manuscript (1737–1738); the Harleian Miscellany (1744-1746), a collection of tracts and pamphlets in the earl of Oxford's library, undertaken in conjunction with Dr. Johnson; 22 articles contributed to the Biographia Britannica (1747-1760); an edition of Raleigh's History of the World, with a Life of the author (1736); a Life of Charles Cotton prefixed to Sir John Hawkins's edition (1760) of the Compleat Angler.[1]
In 1727 Oldys began to annotate another Langbaine to replace the copy he had lost. This valuable book, with a MS. collection of notes by Oldys on various bibliographical subjects, is preserved in the British Museum. [1]
Recognition[]
His poem "On a Fly drinking out of his Cup" was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900.[2]
See also[]
References[]
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Oldys, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 75.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Britannica 1911, 20, 75.
- ↑ "On a Fly drinking out of his Cup", Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900 (edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch). Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1919). Bartleby.com, Web, May 6, 2012.
External links[]
- Poems
- "On a Fly drinking out of his Cup".
- Oldys, William (1696-1761) (1 poem) at Representative Poetry Online
- William Oldys at English Poetry, 1579-1830
- William Oldys at PoemHunter
- About
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the 1911 Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Original article is at Oldys, William
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