John Conington | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 August 1825 |
| Died | 23 October 1869(1869-10-23) (aged 44) Boston, Lincolnshire, England |
| Title | Corpus Christi Professor of Latin (1854–1869) |
| Academic background | |
| Education | University College, Oxford Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Classical scholar |
| Sub-discipline | |
| Institutions | University College, Oxford Corpus Christi College, Oxford |
John Conington (10 August 1825 – 23 October 1869) was an Englishclassical scholar. In 1866 he published his best-known work, the translation of theAeneid ofVirgil into the octosyllabic metre ofWalter Scott.[1] He wasCorpus Professor of Latin at theUniversity of Oxford from 1854 until his death.
Conington was born on 10 August 1825 inBoston, Lincolnshire, England, to the Revd Richard Conington and Jane (née Thirkhill).[2] He is said to have learned the alphabet at fourteen months, and to have been reading well at three and a half.[1] He was educated atBeverley Grammar School, an all-boysgrammar school inBeverley, Yorkshire, and atRugby School, an all-boysindependent boarding school inRugby, Warwickshire.[2]
On 30 June 1843, Coningtonmatriculated atUniversity College, Oxford, to studyliterae humaniores.[2] However, he was soon awarded ademyship atMagdalen College, Oxford, and so moved college.[1] He won the Ireland and Hertford scholarships in 1844.[2] He was active in theOxford Union, becoming secretary in 1845,president in 1846, and librarian in 1847.[2] In December 1846, he graduated with afirst class honoursBachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[2] He decided against takingHoly Orders, as was thus restricted to applyinglay fellowships.[2] Having been awarded a scholarship at University College in March 1846,[1] he continued his studies after taking his degree and was awarded multiple Chancellor's prizes for his work: for Latin verse (1847), for an English essay (1848), and for a Latin essay (1849).[2]
In February 1848, Conington elected afellow of University College, Oxford.[1] He also obtained the Chancellor's prizes forLatin verse (1847), English essay (1848) and Latin essay (1849).[2] He successfully applied for theEldon Law Scholarship in 1849, and went toLincoln's Inn; but after six months he resigned the scholarship and returned to Oxford.[1]
During his brief residence inLondon he began writing for theMorning Chronicle, and continued to do so after leaving. He showed no special aptitude forjournalism, but a series of articles on university reform (1849–1850) was the first public expression of his views on a subject that always interested him.[1]
In 1852, Conington was an unsuccessful candidate for the Professorship of Greek at theUniversity of Edinburgh.[2] In 1854, he was elected the firstCorpus Christi Professor of Latin, basedCorpus Christi College, Oxford. From this time he confined himself with characteristic conscientiousness almost exclusively toLatin literature. The only important exception was the translation of the last twelve books of theIliad in theSpenserianstanza in completion of the work ofP.S. Worsley, and this was undertaken in fulfilment of a promise made to his dying friend.[1]
Conington's edition ofPersius, with commentary and a prose translation was published posthumously in 1872. In the same year appeared hisMiscellaneous Writings, edited byJohn Addington Symonds, with a memoir byHenry John Stephen Smith (see alsoHugh Andrew Johnstone Munro inJournal of Philology, ii., 1869).
In 1852 Conington began, in conjunction withGoldwin Smith, a complete edition ofVirgil with acommentary, of which the first volume appeared in 1858, the second in 1864, and the third soon after his death. Goldwin Smith was compelled to withdraw from the work at an early stage, and in the last volume his place was taken byHenry Nettleship.
Conington's other editions are:
Known to be sympathetic to Radical political causes such asChartism, Conington also loved intense scholarly conversation, often inviting favoured undergraduates to accompany him on his regular 2pm walks. One such was the future Idealist philosopher,T. H. Green.J. A. Symonds was another student friend of Conington's and he and Green accompanied Conington on several of his summer reading parties during the Long Vacation.Henry Nettleship described the selection procedure:
First came the invitation to breakfast; then if the undergraduate pleased him, an invitation to walk: then more breakfasts and more walks: then, if the young man had survived this ordeal … perhaps an invitation to join a reading party in the Long [Vacation]. The final stage of intimacy was the fixing of a particular day in the week to walk with a particular man. To this last both Green and I at length attained, Green’s day being Monday and mine Wednesday.
— The Politics of Conscience[3]
In 1854, he had a personal and spiritual crisis. He began to attend chapel assiduously, only read religious books on Sundays, and to espouse conservative political views. He also became a follower ofEdward Bouverie Pusey, one of the leaders of theAnglo-CatholicOxford Movement.[2]
Conington never married nor had any children.[2]
On 23 October 1869, Conington died in Boston, Lincolnshire, following an illness caused by "a malignant pustule on the lip". He was aged 44. He was buried atFishtoft, Lincolnshire.[2]
TheConington Prize, an award for the best dissertation by an undergraduate in theFaculty of Classics, University of Oxford, was named in his honour.[2]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Conington, John".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 942.
