Lewis Campbell (/ˈkæmbəl/; 3 September 1830 – 25 October 1908) was a Scottish writer and classical scholar.[1] He was best known for his works on Sophocles and Plato. His edition of Plato’s Republic was well received and is still widely read today. He is also well known for his biography of the physicist James Clerk Maxwell.
Biography
Campbell was born in Edinburgh. His father, Robert Campbell, RN, was a first cousin of Thomas Campbell, the poet. His mother was the author Eliza Constantia Campbell.[2] His father died when he was two years of age.[3] In 1844 his mother married Col. Hugh Morrieson.[4]
Campbell was educated at Edinburgh Academy, the University of Glasgow, Trinity College, Oxford and Balliol College, Oxford. He was fellow and tutor of Queen’s College, Oxford (1855–1858), vicar of Milford, Hampshire (1858–1863), and professor of Greek at the University of St Andrews (1863–1894). An advocate for the higher education for women, he was closely involved in the foundation of St Leonards School for Girls and was the chairman of the school council from 1886 to 1903.[5][6][7] In 1894, he was elected an honorary fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. From 1894 to 1896 at St Andrews, he gave the Gifford Lectures, which were published in 1898.[8]
An Anglican vicar, in October 1893 Campbell was reportedly preaching at the University of St Andrews’ College Church which maintains links with the Scottish Episcopalian denomination.[9][10][11]
Works
As a scholar he is best known by his work on Sophocles and Plato. His published works include:
- Sophocles Greek text with English notes in two volumes (2nd ed., 1879)
- The Sophistes and Politicus of Plato Greek text with English notes (1867)
- Sophocles, The Seven Plays in English Verse (1883)
- The Theaetetus of Plato Greek text with English notes (1st ed., 1861; 2nd ed., 1883)
- Republic, the Greek text, in three volumes (with Benjamin Jowett, 1894)
- Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett in two volumes (with Evelyn Abbott, 1897)
- Letters of B. Jowett (1899)
- Life of James Clerk Maxwell, with William Garnett, 1st ed., 1882,[12] (new ed. revised and abridged, 1884)
- A Guide to Greek Tragedy for English Readers (1891)
- Religion in Greek Literature. A Sketch in Outline. London etc.: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1898. OCLC 1170247319 (all editions). (Gifford Lectures for 1894–1896)[13]
- On the Nationalisation of the Old English Universities (1901)
- Verse translations of the plays of Aeschylus (1890)
- Sophocles (1896)
- Plato’s Republic Oxford lectures (1902)
- Tragic Drama in Aeschylus, Sophocles and Shakespeare (1904)
- Paralipomena Sophoclea (1907).
Sir W.D. Ross had recognized the importance of stylometric methods in Plato chronology which Campbell had introduced in his editions of the Sophistes and Politicus of 1869. Recent scholars such as Charles H. Kahn and Diskin Clay, have each advanced the ordering and grouping of Plato’s dialogues according to the same method.
Notes
- ^ “Campbell, Rev. Lewis”. Who’s Who: 289–290. 1908.
- ^ Lewis Campbell (1914). Memorials in Verse and Prose of Lewis Campbell. private circulation. p. 454.
- ^ Kahan, David. “Lewis Campbell”. Gifford Lectures. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
- ^ Craik 2004.
- ^ St Leonard’s School 1877–1977. Blackie & Son. 1977. p. 81. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
Chairman of Council …Lewis Campbell 1886–1903
- ^ Craik, E. “Professor Lewis Campbell”. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
Emeritus Professor of Greek, University of St Andrews…advocated higher education for women. As to the latter, he was closely involved in the foundation of St Leonard’s School for women and was the chairman of the school council for many years.
- ^ Campbell, Lewis (1891). “The Journal Of Education”. The Journal of Education: 593–4. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
[Campbell still chairman of council in 1891 having been elected in 1886]
- ^ Campbell 1898.
- ^ “The Rev. Lewis Campbell”. St. Andrews Citizen Fife, Scotland. 21 October 1893.
Rev. Lewis Campbell, Emeritus Professor of Greek, preached in the College Church last Sunday morning. The* subject of his discourse was the…
- ^ Clarke, M. (1959). Classical Education in Britain, 1500–1900. Cambridge University Press. p. 158. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
…of Scotsman who, like Lewis Campbell, had taken Anglican Orders
- ^ “Evensong The Scottish Book of Common Prayer (1929)” (PDF). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
Welcome to St Salvator’s Chapel at the heart of this ancient learning community. This service of Evensong is based on the monastic method of worship which has nourished the Church through most of Christian history. It is characterized by the corporate recitation and chanting of scripture and prayers in a meditative manner. During the Reformation of the Church in these islands, two of the Latin monastic offices (Vespers and Compline) were combined into Evening Prayer, commonly known as Evensong. Although virtually unchanged since 1549, it remains a resonant part of the Church’s sacrifice of prayer in the Episcopal Church of Scotland,
- ^ Smith, Henry J. S. (13 January 1883). “Review of Life of James Clerk Maxwell by L. Campbell and W. Garnett”. The Academy. 23 (558): 19–20.
- ^ “Religion in Greek Literature”. Gifford Lectures. 18 August 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
References
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Craik, E.M. (2004). “Campbell, Lewis (1830–1908)”. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32270. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
External links
- Works by or about Lewis Campbell at Wikisource
- Lewis Campbell biographical notes and Lectures available from the Gifford Lectures website
- Works by Lewis Campbell at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Lewis Campbell at the Internet Archive
- Works by Lewis Campbell at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
