Walter Scott (scholar)
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Walter Scott (10 September 1855 – 26 February 1925) was an English classical scholar,R. Philps,
Scott, Walter (1855 - 1925)
, ''
Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
'', Vol. 11, MUP, 1988, p. 549.
professor of classics at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
and
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
,
Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. Scott was born in Newton Tracey,
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, England, third son of George Erving Scott and his wife Agnes, ''née'' Ward. He was educated at
Christ's Hospital School Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...
and
Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
from 1874, where he graduated with first-class honours in classics (1878) and the Ireland, Craven and Derby scholarships. From 1879–86 Scott was a fellow of
Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...
. In 1884, after the death of Charles Badham Scott was appointed professor of classics at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
, his inaugural lecture, 'What is Classical Study', delivered on 23 March 1885, was published as a pamphlet. In the same year his ''Fragmenta herculanensia: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oxford Copies of the Herculanean Rolls Together with the Texts of Several Papyri Accompanied by Facsimiles'',Available for download as a PDF document at https://archive.org/details/fragmentahercul00librgoog . published at Oxford by the
Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, established his reputation as a scholar. The book is concerned with the classical texts preserved in the
papyri Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can ...
found at the
Villa of the Papyri The Villa of the Papyri (, also known as ''Villa dei Pisoni'' and in early excavation records as the ''Villa Suburbana'') was an ancient Roman Empire, Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named after its un ...
in
Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...
, and contains, besides the catalogue proper, a number of edited papyrus texts with commentary, including works of
Philodemus Philodemus of Gadara (, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; – prob. or 35 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for h ...
. At Sydney, Scott took much interest in the university as a whole. He was one of the leaders in the movement for the establishment of the women's college, and as dean of the faculty of arts encouraged the teaching of modern literature, history and philosophy, and the inauguration of university extension lectures. His health was, however, not good and in 1890 at his own suggestion his chair was divided, and he became professor of Greek. Scott carried out the duties of this chair for about 10 years, but resigned due to continued ill-health in August 1900. Scott returned to England and in 1905 became professor of classics at
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
,
Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. He, however, retired again in 1908 and spent the remainder of his life at Oxford. He contributed several papers to classical journals in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and devoted his later years to the preparation of an edition of the text of the ''
Hermetica The ''Hermetica'' are texts attributed to the legendary Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. These texts may vary widely in content and purpose, but by modern con ...
'', subtitled The Ancient Greek and Latin Writings which contain Religious or Philosophic Teachings, ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, with an English translation and notes. When Scott died of heart disease on 26 February 1925 the first volume had been published, and the second and third were in the press. The fourth volume, completed by Professor A. S. Ferguson, came out some years later. Though essentially a scholar and shy in nature, Scott's work at Sydney and Montreal was much appreciated. His combination of profound and wide scholarship with idealism was a strong influence in university and teaching life. He did distinguished work as a classical scholar, but the amount of it was limited by his precarious health.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Walter 1855 births 1925 deaths Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Academic staff of the University of Sydney Classical scholars of the University of Sydney English classical scholars