Alexander Dyce (30 June 1798 – 15 May 1869) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

writer and scholar. He was very well known for his books on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and received his early education at the high school there, before becoming a student at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1819. He took holy orders, and became a curate at Lantegloss, in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, and subsequently at Nayland, in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

; in 1827 he settled in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His first books were ''Select Translations from

Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus (also Quintus of Smyrna; , ''Kointos Smyrnaios'') was a Greek epic poet whose ''Posthomerica'', following "after Homer", continues the narration of the Trojan War. The dates of Quintus Smyrnaeus' life and poetry are disputed: by ...

'' (1821), an edition of Collins (1827), and '' Specimens of British Poetesses'' (1825). He issued annotated editions of

George Peele George Peele (baptised 25 July 1556 – buried 9 November 1596) was an English translator, poet, and dramatist, who is most noted for his supposed, but not universally accepted, collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play ''Titus Andronic ...

, Robert Greene,

John Webster John Webster (c. 1578 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

Thomas Middleton Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...

, Marlowe, and Beaumont and Fletcher, with lives of the authors and much illustrative matter. He completed, in 1833, an edition of

James Shirley James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb (writer), Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of ...

left unfinished by William Gifford, and contributed biographies of

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, Akenside and Beattie to Pickering's ''Aldine Poets''. He also edited (1836–1838)

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenis ...

's works, and ''Specimens of British Sonnets'' (1833). His carefully prepared and exhaustive edition of John Skelton, which appeared in 1843, for the first time presented the full oeuvre (so far as it survives) of this unjustly overlooked and often maligned poet of the early Tudor period. It is still indispensable for a serious study of the poet. In 1857 his edition of

was published by Moxon; and the second edition was issued by Chapman & Hall in 1866. He also published ''Remarks on Collier's and Knight's Editions of Shakespeare'' (1844); ''A Few Notes on Shakespeare'' (1853); and ''Strictures on Collier's new Edition of Shakespeare'' (1859), which ended the long friendship between Dyce and the literary scholar (and forger) John Payne Collier. Dyce was closely connected with several literary societies, and undertook the publication of Kempe's ''Nine Days' Wonder'' for the

Camden Society The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary ...

; and the old plays of ''

Timon of Athens ''The Life of Tymon of Athens'', often shortened to ''Timon of Athens'', is a play written by William Shakespeare and likely also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623. Timon of Athens (person), Timon ...

'' and ''

Sir Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry V ...

'' were published by him for the Shakespeare Society. He was associated with Halliwell-Phillips, John Payne Collier and Thomas Wright as one of the founders of the Percy Society, for publishing old English poetry. Dyce also issued ''Recollections of the Table Talk of Samuel Rogers'' (1856). By the time of his death, Dyce had collected a valuable library, containing many rare Elizabethan books, and this collection was left to the South Kensington Museum (

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

). Dyce's bequest comprised 80 pictures, 63 miniatures, 802 drawings, 1,511 prints, 74 rings, 27 art objects, and 13,596 books. His wide reading in Elizabethan literature enabled him to explain much that was formerly obscure in

. While preserving all that was valuable in former editions, Dyce added much fresh matter. His ''Glossary'', a large volume of 500 pages, was the most exhaustive that had appeared. ''This entry is updated from the

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 Mom ...

.''

Bibliography

*
1856 edition published in New York

References

External links

* * * *
Dyce Collection in the National Art Library
*http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/alexander-dyce/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Dyce, Alexander 1798 births 1869 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Shakespearean scholars Scottish literary historians Scottish editors People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh