Daniel Skinner
Encyclopedia
Daniel Skinner was an amanuensis
of John Milton
. He is best known for his role in the posthumous attempts to publish, and then for trying to suprress, several of Milton's State Papers, including De Doctrina Christiana
.
. Biographer Henry John Todd
believed him to be probably Cyriack's nephew. He was educated at Westminster School
until 1670, and was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
. The College's register records him as Oct. 2, 1674. Daniel Skinner juratus et admissus in socium minorem. and as May 23d, 1679. Daniel Skinner juratus et admissis in socium majorem. These dates, the normal date of admission for major Fellows being July not May and the normal interval between minor and major Fellowship being a year and a half, indicate the extraordinary circumstances that surround Skinner's Fellowship at Trinity.
Skinner attempt to arrange for the posthumous printing and publication, outside of England, of some of Milton's state papers, which were at the time unlikely to be publishable in England. In 1675, via Symon Heere, who is presumed to be a Dutch boat skipper, he contacted a printer in Amsterdam, Daniel Elzevir of the House of Elzevir
, and attempted to have Elzevir publish Milton's Letters. However, Elzevir was reluctant to do so, and (as he later reported in a letter, dated 1676-11-20, to Sir Joseph Williamson
, then Secretary of State) after he had received the manuscripts contacted Skinner in Cambridge to tell him that he was unwilling to publish them, given their contents. Elzevir had sent the manuscripts on for review by Philipp van Limborch
, at the time a professor at Remonstrant College.
In the meantime, Skinner was approaching Samuel Pepys
, whose resident mistress was Mary Skinner, Daniel's sister, about the possibility of patronage. He wrote an ornate and lengthy letter in Latin, which has since been lost, to Pepys on 1676-07-05, in which he noted that after four years he had still not been fully elected Fellow of Trinity.
Elzevir reported to Williamson that Skinner came to Amsterdam to retrieve the manuscripts from Elzevir, and told Elzevir that he was glad that Elzevir had not published anything, and that he would have bought up and destroyed all copies if Elzevir had. Skinner afterwards stayed out of England, with the manuscripts, but was subjected to official reprimand and recall. Isaac Barrow
, Master of Trinity College, wrote to Skinner, ordering him:
Skinner followed the order, and in 1679 obtained his major Fellowship. In a letter to Williamson, W. Perwich, the government agent who had conveyed Barrow's instruction to Skinner, who at the time was in Paris, records Skinner's reaction to the order thus:
Skinner's supplication for his M.A. and subscription to the Three Articles was done via proxy. His supplicat, in the University Archives, is dated 1677-01-30. At that time, Skinner was still in Paris, and the supplicat itself is signed by the Proctor on his behalf.
Skinner's return to Trinity College in 1679 follows the calling of his religious beliefs into question. Although the signing of a supplicat implied (at the time) that one intended to be a Protestant; because Skinner's was signed by the Proctor, possibly not with Skinner's authorization, it is not necessarily the case that Skinner intended to be one. The Master and Senior Fellows of the College, in March of that year, had issued a further order to Skinner, that he "come home to the College to clear himself of suspicion of being a papist". What is unusual about this request is that such suspicion usually arose from a person's unwillingness to sign the oath of supremacy
, a necessary part of the M.A. degree that in turn was a requirement for Major Fellowship of the College. However, by that point, Skinner had already received his M.A. (almost two years earlier, in 1677). Whatever the difficulty may actually have been, for which documentay evidence does not survive, it was overcome. (Campbell advances the hypothesis that Skinner was elected by Royal Mandate, under the patronage of Williamson, against the opposition of the College Seniors.)
After becoming a Major Fellow, Skinner once gain left Cambridge. On 1679-06-04 "Mr Daniel Skinner a protestant" was issued with a passport. He is identified with the "young mister Skinner", discussed in a 1680-07-08 letter by Pepys, who was resident in Barbados and Mevis in 1680–1681. William Howe, Pepys' correspondent, replied on 1681-06-15 telling Pepys that he had attempted to place Skinner in the employment of Edwin Stede of the Royal Africa Company upon Skinner's arrival at Barbados, but that Stede declined to employ Skinner. Thereupon Howe placed Skinner with a friend who was a laywer. Skinner's legal career lasted roughly one week, and had left for Mevis.
Skinner returned again to Trinity College that same year, and his religious beliefs were still doubted at the college.
Gordon Campbell observes that the Latin that Skinner used in his letter to Pepys "contains small touches which would have been condemned by Milton or any purist", and that Skinner's mistakes "while fairly rare, seem to point to a limited competence in Latin rather than carelessness". Campbell notes that Skinner's occasional slips in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew render suspect the oft-made assertion that Skinner was one of Milton's pupils; pointing out that whilst the Latin of Picard's portion of De doctrina Christiana is "virtually perfect", Skinner's chapters of the same contain "a light sprinkling of errors". (Dr Charles Richard Sumner records 27 errors in Skinner's work, but only four in Picard's, which is longer than Skinner's.)
Amanuensis
Amanuensis is a Latin word adopted in various languages, including English, for certain persons performing a function by hand, either writing down the words of another or performing manual labour...
of John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
. He is best known for his role in the posthumous attempts to publish, and then for trying to suprress, several of Milton's State Papers, including De Doctrina Christiana
De Doctrina Christiana (Milton)
De doctrina Christiana is a Latin manuscript found in 1823 and attributed to John Milton, who died 148 years prior. Since Milton was blind by the time of the work's creation, this attribution assumes that an amanuensis aided the author.The history and style of Christian Doctrine have created much...
.
Biography
Skinner is presumed to have been a relative of Cyriack SkinnerCyriack Skinner
Cyriack Skinner was a friend, pupil and amanuensis of the English poet John Milton, and the author of an anonymous biography of the poet.-Biography:Cyriack Skinner was the third son of William Skinner, a Lincolnshire squire who died in 1627....
. Biographer Henry John Todd
Henry John Todd
Henry John Todd was an English clergyman, librarian, and scholar, known as an editor of John Milton.He was librarian at Lambeth Palace , and examined and described manuscripts, chiefly biblical, which formerly belonged to Professor Carlyle, Orientalist, and after his death were transferred to the...
believed him to be probably Cyriack's nephew. He was educated at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
until 1670, and was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
. The College's register records him as Oct. 2, 1674. Daniel Skinner juratus et admissus in socium minorem. and as May 23d, 1679. Daniel Skinner juratus et admissis in socium majorem. These dates, the normal date of admission for major Fellows being July not May and the normal interval between minor and major Fellowship being a year and a half, indicate the extraordinary circumstances that surround Skinner's Fellowship at Trinity.
Skinner attempt to arrange for the posthumous printing and publication, outside of England, of some of Milton's state papers, which were at the time unlikely to be publishable in England. In 1675, via Symon Heere, who is presumed to be a Dutch boat skipper, he contacted a printer in Amsterdam, Daniel Elzevir of the House of Elzevir
House of Elzevir
Elzevir is the name of a celebrated family of Dutch booksellers, publishers, and printers of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The duodecimo series of "Elzevirs" became very famous and very desirable among bibliophiles, who sought to obtain the tallest and freshest copies of these tiny...
, and attempted to have Elzevir publish Milton's Letters. However, Elzevir was reluctant to do so, and (as he later reported in a letter, dated 1676-11-20, to Sir Joseph Williamson
Joseph Williamson (politician)
Sir Joseph Williamson, FRS was an English civil servant, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England variously between 1665 and 1701 and in the Irish House of Commons between 1692 and 1699....
, then Secretary of State) after he had received the manuscripts contacted Skinner in Cambridge to tell him that he was unwilling to publish them, given their contents. Elzevir had sent the manuscripts on for review by Philipp van Limborch
Philipp van Limborch
Philipp van Limborch , Dutch Remonstrant theologian, was born at Amsterdam, where his father was a lawyer.He received his education at Utrecht, at Leiden, in his native city, and finally at Utrecht University, which he entered in 1652...
, at the time a professor at Remonstrant College.
In the meantime, Skinner was approaching Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, whose resident mistress was Mary Skinner, Daniel's sister, about the possibility of patronage. He wrote an ornate and lengthy letter in Latin, which has since been lost, to Pepys on 1676-07-05, in which he noted that after four years he had still not been fully elected Fellow of Trinity.
Elzevir reported to Williamson that Skinner came to Amsterdam to retrieve the manuscripts from Elzevir, and told Elzevir that he was glad that Elzevir had not published anything, and that he would have bought up and destroyed all copies if Elzevir had. Skinner afterwards stayed out of England, with the manuscripts, but was subjected to official reprimand and recall. Isaac Barrow
Isaac Barrow
Isaac Barrow was an English Christian theologian, and mathematician who is generally given credit for his early role in the development of infinitesimal calculus; in particular, for the discovery of the fundamental theorem of calculus. His work centered on the properties of the tangent; Barrow was...
, Master of Trinity College, wrote to Skinner, ordering him:
Skinner followed the order, and in 1679 obtained his major Fellowship. In a letter to Williamson, W. Perwich, the government agent who had conveyed Barrow's instruction to Skinner, who at the time was in Paris, records Skinner's reaction to the order thus:
Skinner's supplication for his M.A. and subscription to the Three Articles was done via proxy. His supplicat, in the University Archives, is dated 1677-01-30. At that time, Skinner was still in Paris, and the supplicat itself is signed by the Proctor on his behalf.
Skinner's return to Trinity College in 1679 follows the calling of his religious beliefs into question. Although the signing of a supplicat implied (at the time) that one intended to be a Protestant; because Skinner's was signed by the Proctor, possibly not with Skinner's authorization, it is not necessarily the case that Skinner intended to be one. The Master and Senior Fellows of the College, in March of that year, had issued a further order to Skinner, that he "come home to the College to clear himself of suspicion of being a papist". What is unusual about this request is that such suspicion usually arose from a person's unwillingness to sign the oath of supremacy
Oath of Supremacy
The Oath of Supremacy, originally imposed by King Henry VIII of England through the Act of Supremacy 1534, but repealed by his daughter, Queen Mary I of England and reinstated under Mary's sister, Queen Elizabeth I of England under the Act of Supremacy 1559, provided for any person taking public or...
, a necessary part of the M.A. degree that in turn was a requirement for Major Fellowship of the College. However, by that point, Skinner had already received his M.A. (almost two years earlier, in 1677). Whatever the difficulty may actually have been, for which documentay evidence does not survive, it was overcome. (Campbell advances the hypothesis that Skinner was elected by Royal Mandate, under the patronage of Williamson, against the opposition of the College Seniors.)
After becoming a Major Fellow, Skinner once gain left Cambridge. On 1679-06-04 "Mr Daniel Skinner a protestant" was issued with a passport. He is identified with the "young mister Skinner", discussed in a 1680-07-08 letter by Pepys, who was resident in Barbados and Mevis in 1680–1681. William Howe, Pepys' correspondent, replied on 1681-06-15 telling Pepys that he had attempted to place Skinner in the employment of Edwin Stede of the Royal Africa Company upon Skinner's arrival at Barbados, but that Stede declined to employ Skinner. Thereupon Howe placed Skinner with a friend who was a laywer. Skinner's legal career lasted roughly one week, and had left for Mevis.
Skinner returned again to Trinity College that same year, and his religious beliefs were still doubted at the college.
Writing style
Skinner's writing style, in particular his abilities with Latin, are of particular concern to scholars, in that they shed light on his presumed rôle as amanuensis.Gordon Campbell observes that the Latin that Skinner used in his letter to Pepys "contains small touches which would have been condemned by Milton or any purist", and that Skinner's mistakes "while fairly rare, seem to point to a limited competence in Latin rather than carelessness". Campbell notes that Skinner's occasional slips in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew render suspect the oft-made assertion that Skinner was one of Milton's pupils; pointing out that whilst the Latin of Picard's portion of De doctrina Christiana is "virtually perfect", Skinner's chapters of the same contain "a light sprinkling of errors". (Dr Charles Richard Sumner records 27 errors in Skinner's work, but only four in Picard's, which is longer than Skinner's.)