John Leland (antiquary)

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John Leland (antiquary) bigraphy, stories - English antiquary

John Leland (antiquary) : biography

ca. 1503 – 18 April 1552

John Leland, also Leyland (13 September, ca. 1503 – 18 April 1552), was an English poet and antiquary.Carley, "Leland, John (ca. 1503–1552)"

Leland has been described as "the father of English local history and bibliography".A.L. Clarke, "John Leland and King Henry VIII", The Library, 3rd ser. vol. 2, pp. 132-49 (at 145). John Chandler comments on this and several similar ‘paternity’ claims: John Leland’s Itinerary, p. xxi. His Itinerary provided a unique source of observations and raw materials for many subsequent antiquaries, and introduced the county as the basic unit for studying the local history of England, an idea that has been influential ever since.

Works

Latin poetry

  • Naeniae in mortem Thomæ Viati, equitis incomparabilis (1542). An elegy in praise of Sir Thomas Wyatt, written on his death.
  • Genethliacon illustrissimi Eaduerdi principis Cambriae (1543). A poem inspired by the birth of Prince Edward (the future Edward VI) in 1537, and focusing on his titular dominions of Wales, Cornwall and Cheshire. A prose "Syllabus" (appendix) provides a commentary on its many topographical allusions.
  • Three poems in celebration of the king’s military achievements in France:
    • Fatum Bononiae Morinorum (1544), on the First Siege of Boulogne in 1544.
    • Bononia Gallo-mastix in laudem felicissimi victoris Henrici VIII (1545), also on the First Siege of Boulogne.
    • Laudatio pacis (1546).
  • Naenia in mortem splendidissimi equitis Henrici Duddelegi (1545). An elegy in praise of Sir Henry Dudley.
  • Κυκνειον άσμα: Cygnea cantio (1545). A long "river poem", which praises Henry VIII through the voice of a swan as it swims down the Thames from Oxford to Greenwich. An extensive prose "Commentarii" elucidates the poem’s many place-name and topographical references.See discussion in Carley, "Leland’s Cygnea Cantio".
  • Principum, ac illustrium aliquot & eruditorum in Anglia virorum, encomia, trophæa, genethliaca, & epithalamia (1589), ed. Thomas Newton. Generally known as the Encomia, this is a collection of over 250 short poems in honour of Leland’s contemporaries.See discussions (and selected translations) in Bradner, "Some unpublished poems"; and Carley, "Leland in Paris".

Antiquarian prose writings

Leland’s prose writings, published and unpublished, include:

  • Assertio inclytissimi Arturii regis Britanniae (1544). Leland’s prose treatise on the historicity of King Arthur. Also published in English translation by Richard Robinson as A learned and true assertion of the original, life, actes, and death of the most noble, valiant, and renoumed Prince Arthure, King of great Brittaine (1582).
  • "Antiphilarchia" (completed in 1541, unpublished). A religious dialogue, written in response to Albert Pighius’ "Hierarchiæ ecclesiasticæ assertio" (Cologne, 1538). Leland’s manuscript survives as Cambridge University Library MS Ee.5.14. His annotated copy of the Pighius work can be found in the collection of Worcester Cathedral now administered by the University of Birmingham.
  • The "New Year’s Gift" (ca. 1544). A letter addressed to Henry VIII. Published by John Bale (with additional commentary) as The Laboryouse Journey (1549).
  • "De uiris illustribus" (written ca. 1535-6 and ca. 1543-6). A biographical dictionary of famous British authors in chronological order. Leland did not live to complete the work. The manuscript is Bodleian Library MS Top. gen. c.4. It was published as Commentarii de scriptoribus Britannicis by Anthony Hall in 1709; and more authoritatively (and under its original title) by James Carley in 2010.
  • "Antiquitates Britanniae". A compendium of extracts from classical and medieval texts relating to Britain.Discussed in Skeat, ‘Two "Lost" Works’. Now British Library Cotton MS Julius C.vi.
  • The "Collectanea" (now Bodleian Library, MSS Top. gen. c.1-3; British Library Add. MS 38132). Leland’s many notes and transcripts from his visits to monastic libraries, including most of his book-lists, compiled 1533-6. The three principal volumes were donated to the Bodleian by William Burton. First published in six volumes by Thomas Hearne in 1715,Joannis Lelandi Antiquarii de Rebus Britannicis Collectanea, ed. Hearne (Oxford, 1715) with revised editions appearing in 1770 and 1774. The third volume includes a copy of Ælfric’s Glossary.Buckalew, "Leland’s transcript of Ælfric’s Glossary" Leland reports that at Malmesbury, he found a copy of a now lost work which he ascribed to William of Malmesbury, verses in 15 books on the four Evangelists."libri quindecim de serie quattuor euangelistarum nullo non genere carminis". Collectanea, vol. 3, p. 157; also De scriptoribus Britannicis, p. 196.
  • "Itinerary" notebooks (now Bodleian Library, MSS Top. gen. e.8–15; other fragments in British Library, or surviving only as later transcripts). Leland’s topographical notes, compiled ca. 1538-43. Of the Bodleian material, the first seven volumes were donated to the library by Burton, and the eighth and final one (a compilation of fragments) by Charles King ca. 1693. First published by Thomas Hearne in 1710-12 (second edition 1744-5); and more authoritatively by Lucy Toulmin Smith in 1906-10.