Illustrations of Euripides, on the Ion and the Bacchae
by Richard P. Jodrell
| Jodrell's Illustrations of Euripides | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
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| Author | Richard P. Jodrell | |
| Published | London: Printed by J. Nichols; Sold by J. Dodsley, R. Faulder, Leigh and Sotheby. | |
| Date | 1781 | |
| Edition | 1st | |
| Language | Category:English, Category:Latin and Category:Greek | |
| Volumes | 2 in 1 volume set | |
| Desc. | 8vo | |
Richard Paul Jodrell (1745-1831) was the son of Paul Jodrell, of St. Andrew’s parish, Holborn.[1] He attended Eton College where he published his early verses in the Musae Etonenses, and graduated with much distinction.[2] Later, he matriculated from Hertford College, Oxford, and in 1771 was called to the bar.[3] However, Jodrell pursued a literary rather than a legal career.[4]
His early works include contributions to the supplementary notes to Robert Potter’s edition of Aeschylus, and two volumes of commentaries on three plays by Euripides.[5] Additionally, he wrote a series of plays titled A Widow and No Widow, Seeing is Believing, and The Persian Heroine that enjoyed mixed fortunes.[6] In 1787 he published anonymously a collection of farces and comedies that had been performed in provincial or private theaters.[7]
In 1790 Jodrell was elected to Parliament. He was unseated on a petition, but regained his seat in 1792 and held it until 1796. During the last ten years of his life he suffered from mental illness and died in Portland Place, London, on January 26, 1831.[8]
Illustrations of Euripides, on the Ion and the Bacchae is one of Jodrell's three commentaries on the Greek playwright in which he interprets the tragedy as an illustration of "conjugal love and sacrifice."[9] In addition to the Ion and the Bacchae, Jodrell also published Illustrations of Euripides, on the Alcestis (1789).
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the 1806 Jefferson Inventory of books inherited from Wythe as "Joddrell's [sic] illustrations of Euripides. 8vo." Sowerby describes Jefferson's copy as "First Edition. 8vo. 2 parts in 1, 321 leaves, engraved vignette portrait of Euripides by I. K. Sherwin on the title-page. Jefferson's manuscript and the Library of Congress catalogues call for one volume only. The work was issued in 2 volumes, with continuous signatures and pagination, the title and half-title repeated in the second volume. The division occurs at sig. Sq. Lowndes III, 1212. Jefferson's copy was bound for him in calf, gilt (cost $1.00) by John March on June 30, 1807, and it is to be assumed that he had the two parts bound in 1 volume, with the second title and half-title suppressed."[10]
See also
References
- ↑ Gordon Goodwin, "Jodrell, Richard Paul (1745-1831)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Richard Paul Jodrell, Illustrations of Euripides, on the Alcestis (London: J. Nichols, 1789), 3.
- ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 4:532-533 [no. 4531].
External Links
- Bill Cole, "Finding Mr. Jodrell: Lost for 235 Years," W&M Libraries Blog.
- Read this book in Google Books, vol. 1, Ion.
- Read this book in Google Books, vol. 2, The Bacchae.