I into prose in conjunction with Ozell and Oldisworth 3. How their several parts were distributed is not known. This is the translation of which Ozell boasted as superior, in Toland's opinion, to that of Pope*: it has long since vanished, and is now in no danger from the criticks. 4 He was introduced to Mr. Pope, who was then visiting Sir John Cotton at Madingley near Cambridge, and gained so much of his esteem that he was employed, I believe, to make extracts from Eustathius for the notes to the translation of the Iliad; and in the volumes of poetry published by Lintot, commonly called Pope's Miscellanies', many of his early pieces were inserted. 5 Pope and Broome were to be yet more closely connected. When the success of the Iliad gave encouragement to a version of the Odyssey Pope, weary of the toil, called Fenton and Broome to his assistance, and, taking only half the work upon I [Into blank verse. It was published in 1712 in 5 vols. 12mo. Johnson may well call it prose, for the translation is printed as prose, no regard being paid to lines. Ozell, moreover, in his preface to the first volume, after stating that 'blank verse seems to be the only proper measure for an English translation of Homer,' continues:-'The translator may end his line with long words of two, three, and sometimes four syllables, which is one of Homer's beauties.' version of Iliad i begins (reproducing it as it is printed) :-'Sing, Goddess, the Resentment of Achilles, the Son of Peleus; that accurs'd Resentment.' Ozell's Timothy's' was A Dialogue between 4 Pope, in a note on The Dunciad, i. 286, quotes the following from 'an advertisement' signed 'John Ozell,' in the Weekly Medley, Sept. 20, 1729: -'As to my learning, this envious wretch knew, and every body knows, that the whole bench of Bishops, not long ago, were pleased to give me a purse of guineas for discovering the erroneous translations of the Common-prayer in Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, &c. . . . And Mr. Toland and Mr. Gildon publicly declared Ozell's translation of Homer to be, as it was prior, so likewise superior to Pope's.' Broome published also versions of parts of the Iliad 'in the style of Milton. Eng. Poets, xliv. 198, 238. [These are a great improvement on the prose-like doggerel of his rendering of the same passages in his translation of the complete books in 1712.] 5 He married [1716] a sister of Pope's friend Craggs [post, POPE, 404]. Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 30; post, BROOME, II. 6 Post, POPE, 87; Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 32, 35. 7 Published in Lintot's Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. By several Hands, 1712. himself, divided the other half between his partners, giving four books to Fenton, and eight to Broome. Fenton's books I have enumerated in his Life; to the lot of Broome fell the second, sixth, eighth, eleventh, twelfth, sixteenth, eighteenth, and twenty-third, together with the burthen of writing all the notes". As this translation is a very important event in poetical 6 history, the reader has a right to know upon what grounds I establish my narration. That the version was not wholly Pope's was always known3; he had mentioned the assistance of two friends in his proposals, and at the end of the work some account is given by Broome of their different parts, which however mentions only five books as written by the coadjutors: the fourth and twentieth by Fenton, the sixth, the eleventh, and the eighteenth by himself; though Pope, in an advertisement prefixed afterwards to a new volume of his works, claimed only twelve. A natural curiosity, after the real conduct of so great an undertaking, incited me once to enquire of Dr. Warburton, who told me, in his warm language, that he thought the relation given in the note 'a lie "'; but that he was not 1 Ante, FENTON, 10; post, POPE, 129. Post, POPE, 133, 355. Broome wrote to Fenton in 1722 :-' Pray consider what a weight lies upon my shoulders who, besides eight books of translation, am to write twenty-four of annotations.' Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 54. In 1726 he wrote to Pope :-'Huzza! I have finished the notes on the Odyssey. Ib. p. 110. For the trouble Pope had in correcting Broome's version see post, POPE, 134. Broome was not paid for his work on the Iliad. He wrote to Pope in 1735: 'I was so easy in my fortunes that I was grown above taking any reward.' Ib. p. 177. 3 Pope, in 1722, at the beginning of the undertaking wrote to Broome : -'I must once more put you in mind that the whole success of this affair will depend upon your secrecy.' Ib. p. 49. See also ib. p. 68. Broome says in his note at the end of the Odyssey, speaking for himself and Fenton :-'It was our particular request that our several parts might not be made known to the world till the end of it.' Odyssey, ed. 1760, iv. 266. This note, false in many particulars, written without Fenton's knowledge, and to his annoyance, professed to be in his name as well as Broome's. Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 121. Broome, as Mr. Elwin says, was both the tool of Pope and the dupe.' Ib. p. 127 n. See also ib. pp. 135, 148, 160, 169; ante, FENTON, 17 n. I 2 into prose in conjunction with Ozell and Oldisworth 3. How their several parts were distributed is not known. This is the translation of which Ozell boasted as superior, in Toland's opinion, to that of Pope *: it has long since vanished, and is now in no danger from the criticks. 4 He was introduced to Mr. Pope, who was then visiting Sir John Cotton at Madingley near Cambridge, and gained so much of his esteem that he was employed, I believe, to make extracts from Eustathius for the notes to the translation of the Iliad ; and in the volumes of poetry published by Lintot, commonly called Pope's Miscellanies', many of his early pieces were inserted. 5 Pope and Broome were to be yet more closely connected. When the success of the Iliad gave encouragement to a version of the Odyssey Pope, weary of the toil, called Fenton and Broome to his assistance, and, taking only half the work upon ' [Into blank verse. It was published in 1712 in 5 vols. 12mo. Johnson may well call it prose, for the translation is printed as prose, no regard being paid to lines. Ozell, moreover, in his preface to the first volume, after stating that 'blank verse seems to be the only proper measure for an English translation of Homer,' continues:-'The translator may end his line with long words of two, three, and sometimes four syllables, which is one of Homer's beauties.' Ozell's version of Iliad i begins (reproducing it as it is printed) :-'Sing, Goddess, the Resentment of Achilles, the Son of Peleus; that accurs'd Resentment.' The first volume of a second edition appeared in 1714-The Iliad of Homer Translated from the Greek into Blank Verse. Broome translated Books x-xv, contained in vol. iii. Other editions were published in 1722 and 1734. Brit. Mus. Cata.] 2 'Mr. Ozell has obliged the world with a great many valuable translations.' Jacob's Poet. Reg. i. 198. 3 Ante, SMITH, 2. According to Pope Lintot exclaimed:-'I'll say that for Oldisworth (though I lost by his Timothy's), he translates an ode of Horace the quickest of any man in England.' Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), x. 207. 'His Timothy's' was A Dialogue between 4 Pope, in a note on The Dunciad, i. 286, quotes the following from 'an advertisement' signed 'John Ozell,' in the Weekly Medley, Sept. 20, 1729: 'As to my learning, this envious wretch knew, and every body knows, that the whole bench of Bishops, not long ago, were pleased to give me a purse of guineas for discovering the erroneous translations of the Common-prayer in Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, &c. . . . And Mr. Toland and Mr. Gildon publicly declared Ozell's translation of Homer to be, as it was prior, so likewise superior to Pope's.' Broome published also versions of parts of the Iliad 'in the style of Milton. Eng. Poets, xliv. 198, 238. [These are a great improvement on the prose-like doggerel of his rendering of the same passages in his translation of the complete books in 1712.] 5 He married [1716] a sister of Pope's friend Craggs [post, POPE, 404].' Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 30; post, BROOME, II. Post, POPE, 87; Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 32, 35. 'Published in Lintot's Miscel laneous Poems and Translations. By several Hands, 1712. himself, divided the other half between his partners, giving four books to Fenton, and eight to Broome. Fenton's books I have enumerated in his Life; to the lot of Broome fell the second, sixth, eighth, eleventh, twelfth, sixteenth, eighteenth, and twenty-third, together with the burthen of writing all the notes 2. As this translation is a very important event in poetical 6 history, the reader has a right to know upon what grounds I establish my narration. That the version was not wholly Pope's was always known3; he had mentioned the assistance of two friends in his proposals, and at the end of the work some account is given by Broome of their different parts, which however mentions only five books as written by the coadjutors: the fourth and twentieth by Fenton, the sixth, the eleventh, and the eighteenth by himself; though Pope, in an advertisement prefixed afterwards to a new volume of his works, claimed only twelve. A natural curiosity, after the real conduct of so great an undertaking, incited me once to enquire of Dr. Warburton, who told me, in his warm language, that he thought the relation given in the note 129. Ante, FENTON, 10; post, POPE, 2 Post, POPE, 133, 355. Broome wrote to Fenton in 1722 :-' Pray consider what a weight lies upon my shoulders who, besides eight books of translation, am to write twenty-four of annotations. Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 54. In 1726 he wrote to Pope :-'Huzza! I have finished the notes on the Odyssey.' Ib. p. 110. For the trouble Pope had in correcting Broome's version see post, POPE, 134. Broome was not paid for his work on the Iliad. He wrote to Pope in 1735: 'I was so easy in my fortunes that I was grown above taking any reward. Ib. p. 177. Pope, in 1722, at the beginning of the undertaking wrote to Broome : -'I must once more put you in mind that the whole success of this affair will depend upon your secrecy.' Ib. p. 49. See also ib. p. 68. Broome says in his note at the end of the Odyssey, speaking for himself and Fenton:-'It was our particular a lie "'; but that he was not request that our several parts might not be made known to the world till the end of it.' Odyssey, ed. 1760, iv. 266. This note, false in many particulars, written without Fenton's knowledge, and to his annoyance, professed to be in his name as well as Broome's. Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 121. Broome, as Mr. Elwin says, was both the tool of Pope and the dupe.' Ib. p. 127 n. See also ib. pp. 135, 148, 160, 169; ante, FENTON, 17 n. 5 In Appendix vii to The Dunciad, 1729, p. 220, in 'A List of all our Author's Genuine Works' is 'Twelve Books of the Odyssey, with some parts of other books; and the Dissertation by way of Postscript at the end.' ''It is remarkable, that in the Life of Broome, Johnson takes notice of Dr. Warburton using a mode of expression which he himself used, and that not seldom, to the great offence of those who did not know him. . . . Johnson had accustomed himself to use the word lie, to express 7 8 9 able to ascertain the several shares. The intelligence which Dr. Warburton could not afford me, I obtained from Mr. Langton, to whom Mr. Spence had imparted it'. The price at which Pope purchased this assistance was three hundred pounds paid to Fenton, and five hundred to Broome, with as many copies as he wanted for his friends, which amounted to one hundred more. The payment made to Fenton I know but by hearsay; Broome's is very distinctly told by Pope, in the notes to The Dunciad. It is evident that, according to Pope's own estimate, Broome was unkindly treated. If four books could merit three hundred pounds, eight and all the notes, equivalent at least to four, had certainly a right to more than six 2. Broome probably considered himself as injured, and there was for some time more than coldness between him and his employer. He always spoke of Pope as too much a lover of money 3, and Pope pursued him with avowed hostility, for he not only named him disrespectfully in The Dunciad, but quoted him a mistake or an errour in relation; in short, when the thing was not so as told, though the relator did not mean to deceive. When he thought there was intentional falsehood in the relator, his expression was, " He lies, and he knows he lies."' Boswell's Johnson, iv. 49. See also Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 91, 94, 102, 122, 125-8, 148. 'Spence's Anec. p. 270. For an anecdote of Pope, 'when on a visit to Spence at Oxford,' see Boswell's Johnson, iv. 9. See also Johnson Letters, ii. 156, on the shares in the Odyssey. 2 Broome and Fenton had £770 for half the translation and the whole of the notes, and Pope retained for his half of the translation and his general revision £3,767, or, with all deductions, upwards of £3,500.' He kept his brother poets waiting a whole year before he paid them. Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), viii. 129, 175. 3 In 1725 Broome compared himself and Fenton to the animals in the fable who hunted with the lion. Ib. p. 105. In 1728 he wrote:-'Now tell me, dear Fenton, am I unjust if I call him false and ungrateful?' Ib. In The Dunciad, iii. 331, the fol- And Pope's, ten years to comment and translate," had stood in earlier editions:Hibernian Politics, O Swift! thy doom, And Pope's, translating three whole years with Broome.' 'On which was the following note:"He concludes his irony with a stroke upon himself for whoever imagines this a sarcasm on the other ingenious person is surely mistaken. The opinion our Author had of him was sufficiently shown by his joining him in the undertaking of the Odyssey; in which Mr. Broome, having engaged without any previous agreement, discharged his part so much to Mr. Pope's satisfaction, that he gratified him with the full sum of five hundred pounds, and a present of all those books for which his own interest could procure him subscribers, to the value of one hundred more. The author only seems to lament that he |