Elmer Truesdell Merrill (1860 – 20 April 1936) was an American Latin scholar, born at

Millville, Massachusetts Millville is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,174 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Providence metropolitan area. History Millville was first settled in 1662, and officially incorporated in ...

. Merrill graduated from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

in 1881. He is primarily remembered for his student edition of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

poet

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

and for his studies on the text and tradition of the Letters of

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...

, culminating in his 1914

Teubner The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern collections published of ancient (and some medieva ...

edition, which constituted an important basis for the works of later scholars. Merrill taught at the Massachusetts State Normal School,

Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metrop ...

(1882–83), at

(1883–86), at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(1887–88), again at Wesleyan (1888–1905) as professor of

Latin language Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and literature, and at Trinity College,

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

(1905–08). In 1908 he became professor of Latin at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he taught until his retirement in 1925. In 1898–99, he was professor, in 1899–1900, acting chairman, in 1900–01, chairman of the work of the

American School of Classical Studies The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA; ) is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federati ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. After 1906 he was associate editor of ''

Classical Philology Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

'', and in 1906–07 he served as president of the American Philological Association. He was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in 1895 and received an

LL.D A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from the University of St. Andrews in 1911. In 1923, the

Bibliotheca Teubneriana The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern collections published of ancient (and some medieval ...

published Merrill's scholarly edition of Catullus. His effort was not well received by fellow Classicists, most notably the poet and scholar

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classics, classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed his final examination in ''literae humaniores'' and t ...

, who offered a particularly scathing review. Merrill's student edition of Catullus remained a standard in American classrooms for much of the twentieth century.

Works

* ''Poems of Catullus'' (1893) * ''Fragments of Roman Satire'' (1897) * ''Selected Letters of the Younger Pliny'' (1903) * ''C. Plini Caecili Secundi Epistularum Libri Novem'' (Teubner, 1914) * ''Catulli Veronesis liber'' (Teubner, 1923) * ''Essays in Early Christian History'' (1924)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Elmer Truesdell 1860 births 1936 deaths American Episcopalians American philologists People from Worcester County, Massachusetts University of Chicago faculty University of Southern California faculty Wesleyan University alumni