The Bibliotheca Classica (Reading, November, 1788), or Classical Dictionary containing a full Account of all the Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors is the best-known work of John Lemprière

John Lemprière

John Lemprière , English classical scholar, lexicographer, theologian, teacher and headmaster...

, an English classical scholar. Edited by various later scholars, the dictionary long remained a readable if not absolutely trustworthy reference book in mythology

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

 and classical history

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...

. Lemprière wished "to give the most accurate and satisfactory account of all the proper names which occur in reading the Classics, and by a judicious collection of anecdotes and historical facts to draw a picture of ancient times, not less instructive than entertaining."

The dictionary has been a handbook for teachers, journalists, dramatists and poets for almost 200 years and John Keats

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...

 is said to have known the book almost by heart. "Far from being just an ordinary dictionary, however, Lemprière's encyclopedic work is full of incidental details and stories which bring the mythical past to life." It is also assumed that the great scholar Richard Valpy

Richard Valpy

-Biography:He was born the eldest son of Richard and Catherine Valpy in Jersey. He was sent to schools in Normandy and Southampton, and completed his education at Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1777 he took orders. After holding a mastership at Bury, in 1781 he became head master of Reading grammar...

 helped Lemprière with the dictionary.

Many ships of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 were named from Greek and Roman mythology during the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. Lord Sandwich

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten...

, the First Lord of the Admiralty, had a copy of this book on his desk and simply plucked a name from within. For example, HMS Bellerophon

HMS Bellerophon (1786)

The first HMS Bellerophon of the Royal Navy was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched on 6 October 1786 at Frindsbury on the River Medway, near Chatham. She was built at the shipyard of Edward Greaves to the specifications of the Arrogant, designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1758, the lead ship...

, HMS Charon, HMS Orion

HMS Orion (1787)

HMS Orion was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford on 1 June 1787 to the design of the , by William Bately...

, HMS Leander

HMS Leander (1780)

HMS Leander was a Portland-class 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham on 1 July 1780. She served on the West Coast of Africa, West Indies, and the Halifax station. During the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in the Battle of the Nile before a French ship captured her....

, HMS Minotaur

HMS Minotaur (1793)

HMS Minotaur was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 November 1793 at Woolwich. She was named after the mythological bull-headed monster of Crete.-Career:...

, HMS Pegasus, HMS Phaeton, HMS Theseus

HMS Theseus (1786)

HMS Theseus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.One of the eight Culloden class ships designed by Thomas Slade, she was built at Perry, Blackwall Yard, London and launched on 25 September 1786.-Service:...

, HMS Venus.

Editions

• John Lemprière. Bibliotheca Classica or Classical Dictionary, Reading, 1788.
• John Lemprière. Bibliotheca Classica or Classical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, London, 1797 (Later editions: 1815, 1818, 1828, 1832, 1838, 1843, 1888).
• John Lemprière. Bibliotheca Classica or Classical Dictionary, New York, 1833.
• John Lemprière. Bibliotheca Classica or Classical Dictionary, 10th American Edition, W.E. Dean, New York, 1839. Greatly Enlarged in the Historical Department by Lorenzo L. Da Ponte and John D. Ogilby.

• John Lemprière. Lemprière's Classical Dictionary, (Facsimile) London: Brecken Books, 1984.
• John Lemprière. Lemprière's Classical Dictionary, Senate Books, 1994.

In fiction

Lemprière, and specifically the writing of his dictionary, formed the basis for the novel Lemprière's Dictionary by Lawrence Norfolk

Lawrence Norfolk

Lawrence Norfolk is a British novelist known for historical works with complex plots and intricate detail. His novels also feature an unusually large vocabulary....

.

In The Gaudy by J.I.M. Stewart there is a character called Lemprière. The narrator is familiar with the name because of Keats' knowledge of the dictionary.

External links

• Lemprière's Bibliotheca Classica (1822 edition), full text online