Anthony Alsop

Who is Anthony Alsop?

Anthony Alsop, was a poetical writer.

Alsop was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his M.A. degree 23 March 1696, and became B.D. 12 Dec 1706. He was a favourite with Aldrich, Dean of Christ Church, became censor of the college, and was tutor to the 'principal noblemen and gentlemen' belonging to it. Aldrich entrusted him with the publication of a selection from Æsop, entitled 'Fabularum Æsopicarum Delectus,' Oxon. 1698, as one of the series of classical works which the dean printed for new-year presents to his students. It contains 237 fables in Latin verse, with the original Greek of the first 158, the Hebrew of the next 10, the Arabic of the next 8, whilst the other 60 are in Latin only. The previous publication of Boyle's 'Phalaris' in the same series had just given the occasion of the famous controversy with Bentley. In the preface to his 'Æsop' Alsop refers to Bentley as a man 'in volvendis lexicis satis diligentem,' and gives an elegant version of the fable of the dog in the manger, with an intimation, in the phrase 'singularis humanitas,' of its applicability to Bentley.