John Richardson (scholar)
Encyclopedia
John Richardson FAS
of Wadham College
, Oxford was the editor of the first Persian-Arabic-English dictionary in 1778-1780. His seminal work on Persian grammar, written in collaboration with Sir William Jones
, was noteworthy amongst the early works on this subject; and it remains significant in the context of that philological
foundation from which all subsequent grammatical studies were to evolve.
Richardson's scholarly compilation was organized in a format similar to Franciszek Meniński's Thesaurus Linguarum Orientalis, Turcicæ, Arabicæ, Persicæ (1680).
Each book in the two-volume set was sold separately; and many more of the first part (the Persian-Arabic-English volume) were sold than the second part (the English-Persian-Arabic volume). When booksellers found themselves with an overstock of first edition broken sets, a greater number of copies of the second edition's first book were printed.
Richardson's ground-breaking scholarship was more broadly disseminated in Charles Wilkins
' several revised versions of the dictionary. Subsequent work by 19th century philologists Francis Johnson
, Francis Joseph Steingass
and others would ensure that Richardson's name would continue to be well known as an orientalist and as a scholar.
Royal Asiatic Society
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established, according to its Royal Charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia." From its incorporation the Society...
of Wadham College
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
, Oxford was the editor of the first Persian-Arabic-English dictionary in 1778-1780. His seminal work on Persian grammar, written in collaboration with Sir William Jones
William Jones (philologist)
Sir William Jones was an English philologist and scholar of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages...
, was noteworthy amongst the early works on this subject; and it remains significant in the context of that philological
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
foundation from which all subsequent grammatical studies were to evolve.
Richardson's scholarly compilation was organized in a format similar to Franciszek Meniński's Thesaurus Linguarum Orientalis, Turcicæ, Arabicæ, Persicæ (1680).
Each book in the two-volume set was sold separately; and many more of the first part (the Persian-Arabic-English volume) were sold than the second part (the English-Persian-Arabic volume). When booksellers found themselves with an overstock of first edition broken sets, a greater number of copies of the second edition's first book were printed.
Richardson's ground-breaking scholarship was more broadly disseminated in Charles Wilkins
Charles Wilkins
Sir Charles Wilkins, KH, FRS , was an English typographer and Orientalist, notable as the first translator of Bhagavad Gita into English, and as the creator of the first Devanagari typeface....
' several revised versions of the dictionary. Subsequent work by 19th century philologists Francis Johnson
Francis Johnson (linguist)
Francis Johnson was a linguist who taught Sanskrit, Telugu and Bengali at the East India Company College between 1824 and 1855...
, Francis Joseph Steingass
Francis Joseph Steingass
Francis Joseph Steingass was a British linguist and orientalist of German Jewish descent. He completed his education, including the Ph.D., in Munich, Germany...
and others would ensure that Richardson's name would continue to be well known as an orientalist and as a scholar.
Selected works
Richardson's reputation has been burnished by the work of subsequent lexicographers who have revised and extended his work.- Richardson, John. (1777). A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [OCLC: 84952352]
- Rousseau, Samuel, William Jones, Ḥāfiẓ, and John Richardson. (1805). http://books.google.com/books?id=TEQTAAAAYAAJ&dq=john+richardson&lr=&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0The Flowers of Persian Literature: Containing Extracts from the Most Celebrated Authors, in Prose and Verse; with a Translation into English: Being Intended as a Companion to Sir William Jones's Persian Grammar, to which is Prefixed an Essay on the Language and Literature of Persia] and A specimen of Persian poetry or Odes of Hafez. London: S. Rousseau. [OCLC: 29332319]
- Wilkens, Charles, ed. (1810). A Vocabulary Persian, Arabic, and English; Abridged from the Quarto Edition of Richardson's Dictionary. London: F. & C. Rivingson. [OCLC: 5631372]
- Johnson, Francis, ed. (1852). http://books.google.com/books?id=5l6sHAAACAAJ&dq=A+Dictionary+Persian,+Arabic,+and+English&client=firefox-a A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English. London: W. H. AllenW. H. AllenWilliam Herbert Allen was a notable English landscape watercolour artist whose career spanned more than 50 years from the 1880s to the 1940s. He was invariably referred to as "WH" rather than by his given name. Born 14 September 1863 in West Brompton, London, of parents from Alton, Hampshire,...
. [OCLC: 29094740] -- "The original compilation of Meninski, based upon native lexicons, and amplified and corrected from the same by Mr. Richardson and Sir Charles Wilkins, is the acknowledged groundwork of the author's labours" - Steingass, Francis Joseph, ed. (1892). A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary: Including the Arabic Words and Phrases to be Met with in Persian Literature, being Johnson and Richardson's Persian, Arabic, and English Dictionary Revised, Enlarged London: Crosby Lockwood & Son (Low). [OCLC: 43797675]