Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

JOHN WILLIAM DONALDSON (1811-1861)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 406 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

JOHN See also:WILLIAM See also:DONALDSON (1811-1861)  , See also:English philologist and biblical critic, was See also:born in See also:London on the 7th of See also:June 1811 . He was educated at University See also:College, London. and Trinity College, See also:Cambridge, of which society he subsequently became See also:fellow . In 1841 he was elected headmaster of See also:King See also:Edward's school, See also:Bury St See also:Edmunds . In 1855 he resigned his See also:post and returned to Cambridge, where his See also:time was divided between See also:literary See also:work and private tuition . He died on the loth of See also:February 1861 . He is remembered as a See also:pioneer of See also:philology in See also:England, and as a See also:great See also:scholar in his See also:day, though See also:mach of his work is now obsolete . The New Cratylus (1839), the See also:book on which his fame mainly rests, was an See also:attempt to apply to the See also:Greek See also:language the principles of See also:comparative philology . It was founded mainly on the comparative See also:grammar of See also:Bopp, but a large See also:part of it was See also:original, Bopp's grammar not being completed till ten years after the first edition of the Cratylus . In the Varronianus (1844) the same method was applied to Latin, Umbrian and Oscan . His See also:Jashar (1854), written in Latin as an See also:appeal to the learned See also:world, and especially to See also:German theologians, was an attempt to reconstitute the lost biblical book of Jashar from the remains of old songs and See also:historical records, which, according to the author, are incorporated in the existing See also:text of the Old Testament . His bold views on the nature of See also:inspiration, and his See also:free handling of the sacred text, aroused the anger of the theologians . Of his numerous other See also:works the most important are The See also:Theatre of the Greeks; The See also:History of the Literature of See also:Ancient See also:Greece (a See also:translation and completion of C .

O . See also:

Muller's unfinished work); See also:editions of the Odes of See also:Pindar and the See also:Antigone of See also:Sophocles; a See also:Hebrew, a Greek and a Latin Grammar .

End of Article: JOHN WILLIAM DONALDSON (1811-1861)
[back]
DONAGHADEE
[next]
SIR JAMES DONALDSON (183x- )

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.