John Nott (1751–1825) was an English physician and classical scholar.
Born atWorcester on 24 December 1751, he was son of Samuel Nott, a German courtier in favour with George III. He studied surgery in Birmingham, under the instruction of Edmund Hector; in London underSir Cæsar Hawkins, with whose family he was connected; and in Paris. About 1775 he went to the continent of Europe with an invalid gentleman, and stayed there for two years, returning to London. In 1783 he travelled to China, as surgeon in an East India vessel, and during his absence of three years learnt the Persian language; and soon after returning to England he accompanied his brother and his family on a journey abroad for their health, and did not return until 1788.[1]
Nott was still without a degree in medicine, and, on the advice ofRichard Warren, he became an extra-licentiate of theCollege of Physicians of London on 8 October 1789. On Warren's recommendation he attendedGeorgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and her sister Lady Duncannon, as their physician, to the continent, and continued in that post until 1793. He then settled atHotwells, Bristol, and remained there.[1]
For the last eight years of his life Nott suffered fromhemiplegia, and was confined to his house. He died in a boarding-house, Dowry Square,Clifton, Bristol, on 23 July 1825, and was buried in the old burial-ground at Clifton.[1]
Nott was the author of:[1]
Nott contributed to theGentleman's Magazine, and to other journals, literary and medical. HisNott's verse renderings of the poems of Catullus, Propertius, and of theBasia ofJohannes Secundus, were reprinted inBohn's Classical Library.[1]
Nott seems to have assistedJohn Mathew Gutch in preparing a reprint ofGeorge Wither's works. A few trial copies were issued by Gutch in 1820, in 3 vols.Charles Lamb possessed a copy of theseSelections from the Lyric and Satiric Poems of George Wither, interleaved with manuscript notes by Nott that irritated him.[1]
Nott's nephew, executor and heir was the Rev.George Frederick Nott.[1]
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "Nott, John".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
