David Binning Monro,FBA (16 November 1836 – 22 August 1905) was aScottishHomeric scholar, Provost ofOriel College, Oxford, and Vice-Chancellor ofOxford University.
David Monro was born inEdinburgh, the grandson ofAlexander Monrotertius, professor ofanatomy at theUniversity of Edinburgh, whose own father,Alexander Monrosecondus (1733–1817), and grandfather,Alexander Monroprimus (1697–1767), had both filled the same position.[1] David Monro was educated at theUniversity of Glasgow, where he was influenced byEdmund Law Lushington to become a classical scholar. In 1854, he attendedBrasenose College, Oxford and, later in the same year transferred toBalliol College, Oxford, where he was aSnell exhibitioner. In 1859, he was elected Fellow ofOriel College, Oxford; although he enteredLincoln's Inn the following year, he became lecturer and then tutor at Oriel. In 1882, he becameProvost of the College, and he held this office until his death atHeiden,Switzerland.[1] He also served asVice-Chancellor of theUniversity of Oxford from October 1901 to 1904.[2][3]
Monro was apolymath andpolyglot who possessed considerable knowledge ofmusic,painting andarchitecture. His favourite study was Homer, and hisA Grammar of the Homeric Dialect (2nd ed., 1891) established his reputation as an authority on the subject. He edited the last twelve books of theOdyssey, with valuable appendices on the composition of the poem, its relation to theIliad and thecyclic poets, the history of the text, the dialects, and the Homeric house; a critical text of the poems and fragments (Homeri opera et reliquiae, 1896);Homeri opera (1902, withT. W. Allen, in theScriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis); and an edition of theIliad with notes for schools.[1]
Monro's article on Homer, written for the 9th edition of theEncyclopædia Britannica, was revised by him for later versions before he died.[1] He also wroteThe Modes of Ancient Greek Music (1894).
On 22 August 1905, Monro died of heart disease inHeiden, Switzerland. He is buried inHolywell Cemetery in Oxford.[4]
Upon Monro's death in 1905,[5] a number of his friends purchased, by subscription, over 1000 volumes from his library in his memory. These works were on Homeric studies and were mainly 19th century. They were presented to theBodleian Libraries in Oxford.[6][7]
Monro himself had leftOriel College c.1000 volumes on comparative philology and mythology, most of which are now on permanent loan to the library of theTaylor Institution in Oxford.[8] He left his books on Greek Music and Mathematics, and editions ofWilliam Thackeray andMatthew Arnold, to friends.[9]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Monro, David Binning".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 736. Works by or aboutDavid Binning Monro atWikisource| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ? | Provost of Oriel College, Oxford 1882–1905 | Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by | Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University 1901–1904 | Succeeded by |
