John Clapham (1566–1619) was an English historian and poet.

Life

John Clapham was born in London and began his professional life as clerk to the lord treasurer,

William Cecil, Lord Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598), was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from ...

from around 1590. During this period he performed various roles, acting as burgess for Sudbury, dealing with the repair of English coastal defences, tending to wardship affairs, and becoming closely acquainted with the state of Burghley's health. He was present at Burghley's deathbed in 1598. In 1602 he was admitted to

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 Wale ...

, serving as one of the Six Clerks in

Chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

until 1618. In 1608 Clapham built Christ's Hospital in his father's home parish of Firby (

Bedale Bedale ( ), is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Bedale Beck is a tributary of the River Swale, which forms one of the Yorkshire Dales. The dale has a predominant agriculture sector and its related small traditional t ...

), which he continued to support until his death in 1619. He was survived by his wife, Ann, daughter of Edmund Kiderminster, and one son. He is believed to be buried at St. Dunstan-in-the-West on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

Works

Clapham was the author of ''Narcissus'' (1591), a poem written in Latin hexameters treating the youth as a warning against the dangers of ''philautia'' (self-admiration). It is based on

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's account of Echo and Narcissus in the

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

(III.339–510) and contains echoes of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

, especially Book VI of the

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

. According to Katherine Duncan-Jones' summary, "it locates the Narcissus myth in England, the 'Fortunate Island', presided over by a Virgin Queen. In a palace in a wood Love proffers Ovidian advice to Narcissus about how to win over the woman he loves, however moody she may be. But Narcissus is carried off on a galloping horse called 'blind Lust', falls in love with the nymph Echo, and after a frustrating dialogue with her is soon drowned in the river of Self-Love and metamorphosed into the yellow flower that still bears his name." Most academic interest in the work derives from its being the first poem dedicated to Burghley's ward, the 17-year-old

Earl of Southampton Earl of Southampton was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England. Its first creation came in 1537 in favour of the courtier William FitzWilliam. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1542. Its s ...

, the next being Shakespeare's erotic narrative Venus and Adonis (1593),

The Rape of Lucrece ''The Rape of Lucrece'' (1594) is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare about the legendary Roman noblewoman Lucretia. In his previous narrative poem, ''Venus and Adonis (Shakespeare poem), Venus and Adonis'' (1593), Shakespeare had included ...

(1594) and, according to some,

Shakespeare's Sonnets William Shakespeare (1565 –1616) wrote sonnets on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. Howe ...

, which also address the "Sin of self-love". Although it is thought likely that Burghley prompted Clapham to write ''Narcissus'' for Southampton because of his reluctance to marry, commentators are not agreed about whether the poem itself argues in favour of marriage; likewise, some read the presentation of Narcissus (like Shakespeare's Adonis) as a "compliment" to its dedicatee, others as a "rebuke" and a "taunt".Akrigg, G.P.V. ''Shakespeare and the Earl of Southampton'' (Harvard University Press, 1968) p34; p195. See also Bate, Jonathan. ''The Genius of Shakespeare'' (Picador, 1997) p49. Clapham also wrote verses upon the death of

Thomas Bodley Sir Thomas Bodley (2 March 1545 – 28 January 1613) was an England, English diplomat and Scholarly method, scholar who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Origins Thomas Bodley was born on 2 March 1545, in the second-to-last year of the re ...

in 1613, and other original works and translations. ''Historie of Great Britannie'', his most substantial history, was published initially in 1602, covering the period of the Roman occupation of Britain from the invasion of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

in 55 BC. In 1606 he published a longer edition, ending his account in the ninth century with the Anglo-Saxon

King Egbert Ecgberht (died 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, Ecgbriht, Ecgbeorht, and Ecbert, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was King Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s, Ecgberht was forced into exile to Charlemagne's court i ...

. Clapham began writing his other history in 1603. ''Certain Observations Concerning the Life and Reign of Queen Elizabeth'' contains a substantial biography of Burghley, among other eminent figures, based partly on his own recollections and information provided by Robert Cecil, Burghley's younger son.

Notes

Sources

*D. R. Woolf
"Clapham, John (1566–1619)"
i
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Retrieved 2015-03-12. *A.G.R.S.
"CLAPHAM, John (1566–1618), of London"
in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558–1603'', ed. P.W. Hasler (1981). Retrieved 2015-03-12.

External links

* Latin text o
''Narcissus''
(1591). {{DEFAULTSORT:Clapham, John 1566 births 1619 deaths Writers from London 16th-century English poets 16th-century English male writers English male poets 17th-century English poets 17th-century English male writers 17th-century English writers English historians 16th-century writers in Latin Clerks Members of Gray's Inn Poets from London