Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 14 December 1713) was an English poet, critic,
antiquary
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic si ...
and historian. His lasting contribution was to compile and publish 16 volumes of the first edition of ''Foedera'', a work in 20 volumes conveying agreements between
The Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...
of England and foreign powers since 1101. He held the office of English
Historiographer Royal from 1692 to 1714. He is credited with coining the phrase "
poetic justice" in ''The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider'd'' (1678).
Early life and education
Thomas Rymer was born at
Appleton Wiske
Appleton Wiske is a small village and civil parish that sits between Northallerton and Yarm in the Vale of York, a flat tract of land that runs between the North Yorkshire Moors to the east, the Yorkshire Dales to the west and the River Tees ...
, near
Northallerton
Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increa ...
in the
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres).
From the Restoration it was used ...
in 1643, or possibly at
Yafforth
Yafforth is a village and civil parish in Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England about west of Northallerton. The village lies on the B6271 road between Northallerton and the village of Scorton. The parish had a population of 174 in the 2011 ...
. He was the younger son of Ralph Rymer,
lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
of
Brafferton in Yorkshire, said by
Clarendon to possess a good estate. The son studied at
Northallerton Grammar School, where he was a classmate of
George Hickes. There he studied for eight years under Thomas Smelt, a noted Royalist.
Aged 16, he went to study at
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wif ...
, matriculating on 29 April 1659.
Although Rymer was still at Cambridge in 1662 when he contributed Latin verses to a university volume to mark the marriage of
Charles II and
Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to King Charles II, which lasted from 21 May 1662 until his death on 6 February 1685. She ...
, there is no record of his taking a degree. This may have been due to financial problems his father was suffering at the time, or to his father's arrest on 13 October 1663 — he was executed the following year for involvement in the
Farnley Wood Plot
The Farnley Wood Plot was a conspiracy in Yorkshire, England in October 1663. Intended as a major rising to overturn the return to monarchy in 1660, it was undermined by informers, and came to nothing.
The major plotters were Joshua Greathead ...
, an intended uprising in Yorkshire against Charles II. Although Thomas's elder brother Ralph was also arrested and imprisoned, Thomas was not implicated. On 2 May 1666 he became a member of
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...
. He was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
on 16 June 1673.
Career
Rymer's first appearance in print, was as translator of
René Rapin
René Rapin (1621–1687) was a French Jesuit and writer.
He was born at Tours and entered the Society of Jesus in 1639. He taught rhetoric, and wrote extensively both in verse and prose.
Works
His first production, ''Eclogæ Sacræ'' (Paris ...
's ''Reflections on
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
's Treatise of Poesie'' (1674), to which he added a preface in defence of the classic rules for unity in drama. Following the principles set there, he composed a verse tragedy licensed on 13 September 1677, called ''Edgar, or the English Monarch'', which failed. It was printed in 1678, with a second edition in 1693. Rymer's views on drama were again given to the world in a printed letter to
Fleetwood Shepheard
Fleetwood Sheppard (sometimes spelled as "Shepphard," "Sheppheard," and "Sheppeard") (1 January 1634 – 25 August 1698) was a British courtier and literary wit who was instrumental in the courts of Charles II of England and William of Orange. H ...
, a friend of
Matthew Prior, entitled ''The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider'd'' (1678). Here, in discussing ''
Rollo Duke of Normandy
''Rollo Duke of Normandy'', also known as ''The Bloody Brother'', is a play written in collaboration by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson and George Chapman. The title character is the historical Viking duke of Normandy, Rollo (lived ...
'' by
John Fletcher,
Philip Massinger,
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...
, and
George Chapman, Rymer coined the term "
poetical justice".
To
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...
's ''Epistles Translated by Several Hands'' (1680), prefaced by
Dryden, Rymer contributed ''Penelope to Ulysses''. He was also one of those who Englished the so-called ''Dryden's
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
'' of 1683–1686 (5 vols.): the life of
Nicias fell to his share. Rymer wrote a preface to
Whitelocke's ''Memorials of English Affairs'' (1682), and in 1681 ''A General Draught and Prospect of the Government of Europe'', reprinted in 1689 and 1714 as ''Of the Antiquity, Power, and Decay of Parliaments'', where ignorant of a future dignity that would be his, he had the misfortune to observe, "You are not to expect truth from an historiographer royal."
Rymer contributed three pieces to the collection of ''Poems to the Memory of
Edmund Waller'' (1688) (afterwards reprinted in Dryden's ''
Miscellany
A miscellany is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a miscellany can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different forms. In contrast to anthologies, whose ...
Poems''), and wrote the Latin inscription on all four sides of Edmund Waller's monument in
Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...
churchyard.
The preface ("Lectori salutem") to the posthumous ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' (1688) of
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book '' Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influ ...
seems to have been written by Rymer. An English translation appeared in 1722. The ''Life of Hobbes'' (1681), sometimes ascribed to him, was written by Richard Blackburne. He produced a congratulatory poem on the arrival of
Queen Mary in Westminster with
William III on 12 February 1689.
Rymer's next piece of authorship was to translate the sixth elegy of the third book of Ovid's ''Tristia'' for Dryden's ''Poetical Miscellanies''. The only version to contain Rymer's rendering seems to be the second edition of the second part of the ''Miscellanies'', subtitled ''Silvae'' (1692).
On the death of
Thomas Shadwell
Thomas Shadwell ( – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1689.
Life
Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm, Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House, Lynford, Norfolk, and educated at Bu ...
in 1692, Rymer was appointed
historiographer royal at a yearly salary of £200. Immediately after, there appeared his much-discussed ''A Short View of Tragedy'' (1693), criticising
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 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 nation ...
and
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...
, which gave rise to ''The Impartial Critick'' (1693) of
John Dennis John Dennis may refer to:
*John Dennis (dramatist) (1658–1734), English dramatist
*John Dennis (1771–1806), Maryland congressman
* John Dennis (1807–1859), his son, Maryland congressman
* John Stoughton Dennis (1820–1885), Canadian surveyor ...
, the epigram of Dryden.
''Foedera''
Rymer's lasting contribution to scholarship was the ''Foedera'', a collection of "all the leagues, treaties, alliances, capitulations, and confederacies, which have at any time been made between the Crown of England and any other kingdoms, princes and states."
Documents were presented in Latin with summaries in English.
Begun under a royal warrant in 1693, it was "an immense labour of research and transcription on which he spent the last twenty years of his life".
The first edition of the ''Foedera'' consisted of 20 volumes dated 1704–1735. Sixteen were prepared by Rymer, of which the last two were published posthumously by his assistant Robert Sanderson, who himself compiled the remaining volumes, the last three being supplementary.
George Holmes revised the first 17 volumes, published from 1727 to 1735, and a single
folio
The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
in 1730 of corrections to the first edition.
The "Hague edition" was published from 1737 to 1745 in "ten closely-printed folio volumes".
The first nine reprinted the London edition, with the tenth combining
Paul de Rapin
Paul de Rapin (25 March 1661 – 25 April 1725), sieur of Thoyras (and therefore styled de Rapin de Thoyras), was a Huguenot historian writing under English patronage. His ''History of England'', written and first published in French in 1724– ...
's French-language synopsis and an index to the ''Foedera''.
Rapin's text had been translated into English in 1733.
The
Record Commission
The Record Commissions were a series of six Royal Commissions of Great Britain and (from 1801) the United Kingdom which sat between 1800 and 1837 to inquire into the custody and public accessibility of the state archives. The Commissioners' work ...
in 1800 proposed a "Supplement and Continuation" to the ''Foedera''; in 1809 it decided instead to make a complete revision.
Seven parts were prepared before the project was abandoned due to dissatisfaction with the editing by Dr
Adam Clarke and others.
Six parts in three volumes were published from 1816 to 1830 and the seventh in 1869, along with miscellaneous notes. The work was thus revised up to the year 1383.
A three-volume English-language summary and index of the complete ''Foedera'' by Sir
Thomas Duffus Hardy followed. The
Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of E ...
recommends citing the Record Commission (RC) edition where available and the Hague edition otherwise.
Death
Rymer died on 14 December 1713 and was buried four days later in
St Clement Danes
St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...
' Church in the
Strand in London. He appears not to have left any immediate family.
References
;Notes
;Citations
Attribution:
*
*
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rymer, Thomas
1640s births
1713 deaths
People from Northallerton
Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Members of Gray's Inn
17th-century English historians
18th-century English historians