Edward Phillips (August 1630 – c. 1696) was an English author.

Life

He was the son of Edward Phillips, of the

Crown Office in Chancery The Crown Office in Chancery is a section of the Ministry of Justice (formerly the Lord Chancellor's Department). It has custody of the Great Seal of the Realm, and has certain administrative functions in connection with the courts and the j ...

, and his wife Anne, only sister of

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

, the poet. Edward Phillips the younger was born in

Strand, London The Strand (commonly referred to with a leading "The", but formally without) is a major street in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London's West End Theatre, West End theatreland, runs just over from Tra ...

. His father died in 1631, and Anne eventually married her husband's successor in the crown office, Thomas Agar. Edward Phillips and his younger brother,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, were educated by Milton. Edward entered

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

, in November 1650, but left the university in 1651 to work as a bookseller's clerk in London. Although he did not share Milton's religious and political views, and seems, to judge from the free character of his ''Mysteries of Love and Eloquence'' (1658), to have undergone a certain revulsion from his

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

upbringing, he remained on affectionate terms with his uncle to the end. He was tutor to the son of

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...

, the diarist, from 1663 to 1672 at

Sayes Court Sayes Court was a manor house and garden in Deptford, in the London Borough of Lewisham on the Thames Path and in the former parish of Deptford St Nicholas, St Nicholas. Sayes Court once attracted throngs to visit its celebrated garden''John Ev ...

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

, and in 1677–1679 in the family of

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington (1618 – 28 July 1685) was an England, English statesman. A supporter of the Cavaliers, Royalists during the English Civil War, he joined the royal family in exile before returning to England at the Stuart R ...

, a prominent Roman Catholic. The date of Phillips's death is unknown but his last book is dated 1696.

Works

His most important work is ''Theatrum poetarum'' (1675), a list of the chief poets of all ages and countries, but principally of the English poets, with short critical notes and a prefatory ''Discourse of the Poets and Poetry'', which has usually been traced to Milton's hand. He also wrote ''

The New World of English Words ''The New World of English Words, or, a General Dictionary'' is an English dictionary compiled by Edward Phillips and first published in London in 1658. It was the first folio English dictionary. Contents As well as containing common words, th ...

'' (1658), which went through many editions; a new edition of ''

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

's Chronicle'', of which the section on the period from 1650 to 1658 was written by himself from the royalist standpoint; a supplement (1676) to

John Speed John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.; superseding . The son of a citizen and Merchant Taylor in London,"Life of John Speed", ''The Hibernian Magazine, Or, Compe ...

's ''Theatre of Great Britain''; and in 1684 ''Enchiridion linguae latinae'', said to have been taken chiefly from notes prepared by Milton.

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...

states that all Milton's papers came into Phillips's hands, and in 1694 he published a translation of his ''Letters of State'' with a valuable memoir.

References

* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Edward English non-fiction writers 1630 births 1690s deaths Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford English male non-fiction writers

Life

Works

References

Further reading

External links