Gaisford Prize
Encyclopedia
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, founded in 1855 in memory of Dr Thomas Gaisford
Thomas Gaisford
Thomas Gaisford was an English classical scholar.He was born at Iford Manor, Wiltshire, and entered the University of Oxford in 1797, becoming successively student and tutor of Christ Church. In 1811, he was appointed Regius Professor of Greek in the University...
(1779–1855). For most of its history, the prize was awarded for Classical Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
Verse and Prose. The prizes are now the Gaisford Essay Prize and the Gaisford Dissertation Prize.
History
Dr Thomas Gaisford, DeanDean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of Christ Church
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, Regius Professor of Greek
Regius Professor of Greek (Oxford)
The Regius Professorship of Greek is a professorship at the University of Oxford in England.Henry VIII founded the chair by 1541. He established five Regius Professorships in the University , the others being the Regius chairs of Divinity, Medicine, Civil Law and Hebrew.-List of holders:* John...
in the University of Oxford for more than forty years (1811–1855), died on 2 June 1855. Ten days later, at a meeting held in Christ Church on 12 June, it was resolved to establish a prize in his honour, to be called the Gaisford Prize, and to raise for that purpose £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
1,000 by public subscription, the interest to be applied "to reward a successful prizeman or prizemen, under such regulations as shall be approved by Convocation
Convocation
A Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.- University use :....
".
The Prize was first awarded in 1857.
When Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
won the Newdigate Prize
Newdigate prize
Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize is awarded to students of the University of Oxford for Best Composition in English verse by an undergraduate who has been admitted to Oxford within the previous four years. It was founded by Sir Roger Newdigate, Bt in the 18th century...
in 1878, his prize poem, Ravenna, was published by Thomas Shrimpton and Son of Oxford with two lists of names on the wrapper, one of the winners of the Newdigate Prize from 1840 to 1877, the other of the winners of the Gaisford Prize for Greek Prose from 1857 to 1876.
There were originally two Gaisford Prizes, for Greek Verse and for Greek Prose. To these were added two more, for an Essay and for a Dissertation. However, under 'Part 21: Gaisford Fund', the current Schedule to the University's Statutes and Regulations provides for only two prizes:
Winners of the Gaisford Prize for Greek Verse
- 1857: J. H. Warner, Balliol, for Greek hexameters, from Milton, Paradise LostParadise LostParadise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
, VI, 56 - 1858: R. Broughton, Balliol, for Greek iambics, from Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part I, Act II, scene 4
- 1859: George R. Luke, Balliol, for Greek verse, from the Morte D'Arthur
- 1860: Chaloner W. Chute, for Greek iambics, from Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act IV, scene 4
- 1861: James BryceJames Bryce, 1st Viscount BryceJames Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce OM, GCVO, PC, FRS, FBA was a British academic, jurist, historian and Liberal politician.-Background and education:...
, Trinity, for The May Queen: a Greek idyll - 1862: Robert W. Raper, Trinity, for Greek iambics, from Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part II, Act IV, scene 3
- 1863: Charles J. Pearson, for Homeric hexameters, from Milton's Paradise Lost
- 1864: Evelyn AbbottEvelyn AbbottEvelyn Abbott was an English classical scholar, born at Epperstone, Nottinghamshire. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he excelled both academically and in sports, winning the Gaisford Prize for Greek Verse in 1864, but after a fall in 1866 his legs became paralysed...
, Balliol, for Greek tragic iambics, etc., from Shakespeare, Pericles, Act V, Scene 1 - 1865: Ernest MyersErnest MyersErnest James Myers , was a poet, Classicist and author. He was the second son of the Rev. Frederic Myers, author of Catholic Thoughts, and Susan Harriett Myers...
, Balliol - 1866: George Nutt, New College, for Greek comic iambics, from Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part II, Act I, Scene 2
- 1867: Alexander M. Bell, Balliol, for Dante poeta apud Inferos
- 1868: Richard Lewis NettleshipRichard Lewis NettleshipRichard Lewis Nettleship , English philosopher, youngest brother of Henry Nettleship, was educated at Uppingham and Balliol College, Oxford, where he held a scholarship....
, Balliol, for City of Pygmies - 1869: John Arthur GodleyArthur Godley, 1st Baron KilbrackenJohn Arthur Godley, 1st Baron Kilbracken, GCB was a British civil servant and the longest serving - and probably the most influential - Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India....
, Balliol, for Greek Theocritean verse, from Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act 4, scene 2 - 1871: Edward Byron Nicholson, Trinity, for Greek verse Hymnos eis Asteras
- 1876: Arthur Elam Haigh, verse from William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
- 1877: Sidney Graves Hamilton, verse from John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
- 1882: William Ross HardieWilliam HardieWilliam Ross Hardie was a Scottish classical scholar, Professor of Humanity at Edinburgh University from 1895 until his death.-Early life:...
, Balliol, for Greek comic iambics, translation from Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act II, scene 5 - 1883: Cecil Henry St Leger Russell, Trinity
- 1884: Harry Hammond House, Corpus Christi, for Greek iambics, translation from Shakespeare, King Henry IV Part 2, Act 1, sc. 1
- 1889: René Louis Alphonse Du Pontet, Trinity, for Greek hexameters
- 1890: William Martin GeldartWilliam Martin GeldartWilliam Martin Geldart was a British jurist. A classical scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, he went on to become Vinerian Professor of English Law at Oxford and a leading jurist of his day.-Early life:Son of the Rev...
, Balliol, for Greek comic iambics, from Shakespeare, Henry V, Act II, Scene III - 1894: George Stuart RobertsonGeorge S. RobertsonGeorge Stuart Robertson was a British athlete, tennis player, and classical scholar. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens....
, for Shakespeare's King Henry IV, part II, act 2, scene II, lines 1–100, translated into comic iambic verse - 1896: Edward L. D. Cole, for Greek hexameters
- 1898: James Alexander Webster, for translation from Christopher MarloweChristopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
's Edward II, Act V, scene 1. - 1902: Edward William Macleay GriggEdward Grigg, 1st Baron AltrinchamEdward William Macleay Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham, KCMG, KCVO, DSO, MC, PC was a British colonial administrator and politician.-Early years:...
, New College, for translation from Shakespeare, Richard III, act 1, scene 2 - 1906: Leslie Whitaker Hunter, for Greek elegiac verse, translation from Tennyson's Lotos-eaters
- 1916: Godfrey Rolles DriverGodfrey Rolles DriverGodfrey Rolles Driver CBE, FBA was an English Orientalist noted for his studies of Semitic languages and Assyriology....
, New College - 1927: Ronald SymeRonald SymeSir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he is widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome...
, Oriel, for a passage of Morris's The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the NiblungsThe Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the NiblungsThe Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs is an epic poem by William Morris, telling the tragic story of the Norse hero Sigmund, his son Sigurd and Sigurd's wife Gudrun...
into HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
ic hexameterHexameterHexameter is a metrical line of verse consisting of six feet. It was the standard epic metre in classical Greek and Latin literature, such as in the Iliad and Aeneid. Its use in other genres of composition include Horace's satires, and Ovid's Metamorphoses. According to Greek mythology, hexameter...
s - 1928: Denys Lionel PageDenys PageSir Denys Lionel Page was a British classical scholar at Oxford and Cambridge.-Early life:Born at Reading, Page was the son of Frederick Harold Dunn Page, a chartered civil engineer of the Great Western Railway, and his wife Elsie Daniels. He was educated at St...
, for Greek tragic iambics, translation of John MasefieldJohn MasefieldJohn Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
's Pompey the Great, Act 2, Scene 1 - 1930: Brian Davidson, translation of Addison's Cato, Act IV, scene 4, to Act V, scene 1
- 1934: Spencer BarrettSpencer BarrettSpencer Barrett FBA, was an English classical scholar, Fellow and Sub-Warden of Keble College, Oxford, and Reader in Greek Literature in the University of Oxford...
, Christ Church. - 1936: John Godfrey Griffith, for translation of Tolstoy's 'Thou shalt not kill'
- 1995: No prize awarded (but honourably mentioned: Martin Revermann, Corpus Christi)
- 1996: Jeremy Grant, Worcester
- 1998: No prize awarded (but honourably mentioned: Letizia Palladini, Balliol)
- 1999: Luke Pitcher
- 2000: Laura Bender, Magdalen
Winners of the Gaisford Prize for Greek Prose
- 1858: George R. Luke, Balliol, for Nikais : a Greek dialogue on superstition
- 1861: Charles Bigg, Corpus Christi
- 1870: John Arthur GodleyArthur Godley, 1st Baron KilbrackenJohn Arthur Godley, 1st Baron Kilbracken, GCB was a British civil servant and the longest serving - and probably the most influential - Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India....
, Balliol, for Phidias, or Concerning Sculpture: a Platonic dialogue - 1871: George Edward Jeans, for Iceland : in Herodotean prose
- 1872: Thomas Agar, Christ Church, for Tragic Iambic Verse. Manfred, Act 1 : 'The spirits I have raised — with the blest tone which made me'.
- 1880: William Yorke Fausset, Balliol
- 1884: Cecil Henry St Leger Russell, Trinity, for The Athenian state: a platonic dialogue
- 1895: George Stuart RobertsonGeorge S. RobertsonGeorge Stuart Robertson was a British athlete, tennis player, and classical scholar. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens....
, for Herodotus in Britain - 1903: Robert William Chapman, Oriel
- 1907: John Davidson BeazleyJohn BeazleySir John Davidson Beazley was an English classical scholar.Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Beazley attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a close friend of the poet James Elroy Flecker. After graduating in 1907, Beazley was a student and tutor in Classics at Christ Church, and in 1925 he...
, Balliol, for Herodotus at the Zoo - 1913: Godfrey Rolles DriverGodfrey Rolles DriverGodfrey Rolles Driver CBE, FBA was an English Orientalist noted for his studies of Semitic languages and Assyriology....
, New College - 1922: William Francis Ross Hardie, for A Lucianic dialogue between Socrates in Hades and certain men of the present day
- 1926: Ronald SymeRonald SymeSir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he is widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome...
, Oriel, a section of Thomas MoreThomas MoreSir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
's UtopiaUtopiaUtopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
into PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
nic prose - 1930: Peter J. McGowen, transl. of Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
's The First Step, Chapter VII - 1931: J. L. AustinJ. L. AustinJohn Langshaw Austin was a British philosopher of language, born in Lancaster and educated at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford University. Austin is widely associated with the concept of the speech act and the idea that speech is itself a form of action...
, Balliol - 1932: H. G. B. Lynch, Merton, transl. of AreopagiticaAreopagiticaAreopagitica: A speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a 1644 prose polemical tract by English author John Milton against censorship...
- 1995: Deborah W. Rooke, Regent's Park College
- 1996: Holger Gzella, Worcester
- 1998: Sinead Willis, New College
- 1999: Letizia Poli-Palladini, Balliol
- 2000: Luke Pitcher, Somerville
- 2002: Oliver ThomasOliver ThomasFor the Texas businessman and World War II POW, see Oliver C. Thomas.Oliver M. Thomas, Jr. , is a Democratic politician from New Orleans. He served on the New Orleans City Council from 1994 to 2007...
, New College - 2009: Christopher WhiteChristopher WhiteChristopher White is Child ballad 108.-Synopsis:A maid bemoans the absence of her lover, Christopher White. A merchant offers to marry her instead. She tells him that if she was false to her lover, she'd be false to him. He offers more and more until he persuades her...
, Magdalen College
Winners of the Gaisford Essay Prize
- 1996: Ben Rowland, Balliol
- 1998: No prize awarded (but honourably mentioned: David Hodgkinson, Balliol)
- 2007: Sarah Cullinan, Oriel
- 2008: Robert Colborn, New College
- 2009: Scott Liddle, New College
Winners of the Gaisford Dissertation Prize
- 1998: No prize awarded
- 1999: Letizia Poli-Palladini, Balliol, and Tobias Reinhardt, Corpus Christi (jointly)
- 2002: Wolfgang David Cirilo de Melo (jointly), for work on the Latin verb system
- 2008: Oliver Thomas, New College and Balliol
Notable winning entries
John Davidson BeazleyJohn Beazley
Sir John Davidson Beazley was an English classical scholar.Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Beazley attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a close friend of the poet James Elroy Flecker. After graduating in 1907, Beazley was a student and tutor in Classics at Christ Church, and in 1925 he...
's winning entry for the 1907 Greek Prose prize, Herodotus at the Zoo, was reprinted by Blackwell in 1911 and later appeared in a collection of classical parodies produced in Switzerland in 1968. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography calls it "an enchanting work".
George Stuart Robertson
George S. Robertson
George Stuart Robertson was a British athlete, tennis player, and classical scholar. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens....
won the prize for Greek Verse in 1894 with a translation of a hundred lines of Shakespeare into comic iambic verse, and the next year he won the prize for Greek Prose and a Blue for hammer throwing. He heard about the 1896 Summer Olympics
1896 Summer Olympics
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...
, the first of the modern era, and later explained "Greek classics were my proper academic field, so I could hardly resist a go at the Olympics, could I?" On arrival in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, he found to his dismay that his discipline of hammer throwing was not to be competed in, so in the spirit of amateurism he entered the shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
, the discus
Discus
Discus, "disk" in Latin, may refer to:* Discus , a progressive rock band from Indonesia* Discus , a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe and enemy of Luke Cage* Discus , a freshwater fish popular with aquarium keepers...
and the tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
. In the discus, he recorded the Games' worst ever throw, and in the tennis doubles he lost his only match but nevertheless won a Bronze Medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
. In a ceremony after the Games, Robertson recited an ode to athletic prowess which he had composed in Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
.
In fiction
In Max BeerbohmMax Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
's satirical tragedy of undergraduate life at Oxford, Zuleika Dobson
Zuleika Dobson
Zuleika Dobson, full title Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story, is a 1911 novel by Max Beerbohm, a satire of undergraduate life at Oxford. It was his only novel, but was nonetheless very successful...
(1911), the hero, called the Duke of Dorset, has won one of the Prizes:
See also
- Prizes named after peoplePrizes named after peopleThis is a list of prizes that are named after people.For other lists of eponyms see Lists of etymologies.* Ansari X Prize - Anousheh Ansari, Amir Ansari* Prince of Asturias Awards - Felipe, Prince of Asturias-A:...
- List of British literary awards
- List of poetry awards
- List of years in poetry
- List of years in literature
- List of prizes