John Harris (c. 1666 – 7 September 1719) was an English writer, scientist, and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest. He is best known as the editor of the '' Lexicon Technicum: Or, A Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences'' (1704), the earliest of the English encyclopaedias; as the compiler of the
Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels
' (1744), published under his name; and as the author of an unfinished county history of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Life

Harris was born about

1666 This is the first year to be designated as an ''Annus mirabilis'', in John Dryden's 1667 Annus Mirabilis (poem), poem so titled, celebrating Kingdom of England, England's failure to be beaten either by the Dutch or by fire. Events Januar ...

, probably in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, and was a scholar of

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, from 1684 to 1688. He was presented to the vicarage of Icklesham in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, and subsequently to the rectory of St Thomas,

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earli ...

. In 1696 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

and published a paper in the Society's ''

Philosophical Transactions ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...

'' on microscope observations of animalculaLarry Stewart, ‘Harris, John (c.1666–1719)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004 which included the very first description of a bdelloid rotifer. In 1698 he gave the seventh series of the Boyle Lectures,
Atheistical Objections against the Being of God and His Attributes fairly considered and fully refuted
'. Between 1702 and 1704 he delivered at the Marine Coffee House in Birchin Lane, London, the mathematical lectures founded by Sir Charles Cox, and advertised himself as a mathematical tutor at Amen Corner. The friendship of Sir William Cowper secured for him the office of private chaplain, a

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir ...

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

(1708), and the rectory of the united London parishes of St Mildred, Bread Street and St Margaret Moses, as well as other preferments. In politics he showed himself a Whig, and engaged in a bitter quarrel with the Rev. Charles Humphreys, who afterwards was chaplain to the High-Church Tory

Henry Sacheverell Henry Sacheverell (; 8 February 1674 – 5 June 1724) was an English high church Anglican clergyman who achieved nationwide fame in 1709 after preaching an incendiary 5 November sermon. He was subsequently impeached by the House of Commons and ...

. Harris for a time acted as vice-president of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. At his death, he was completing an elaborate ''History of Kent in Five Parts'' of which the first volume only was published, by D. Midwinter of St Paul's Churchyard, London, in 1719. He is said to have died in poverty brought on by his own bad management of his affairs.

Works

* '' Astronomical Dialogues Between a Gentleman and a Lady''. London, 1719; also **

References

External links

''Dictionary of Scientific Biography''
*Harris's 1697 book
''Remarks on some late papers relating to the universal deluge : and to the natural history of the earth,''
in the digital collection of the

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of sc ...

Description
of ''Remarks...'' (1697) from a catalog of a 1984 exhibition abou
Theories of the Earth 1644-1830
at the

(see bottom of page) {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, John 1660s births 1719 deaths English book editors Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford English male non-fiction writers People from Winchelsea People from Icklesham 17th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century Anglican theologians