Faculty reports by John Snelling Popkin, Eliot Professor of Greek Literature
Overview
The faculty reports in this collection provide an overview of the classical instruction given to students at Harvard in the early nineteenth century by John Snelling Popkin, Eliot Professor of Greek Literature from 1825 to 1827. The reports also document Popkin's apprehension about the introduction of modern languages to the college curriculum (ca. 1825) and the impact this new curriculum might have on the standing of classical studies at Harvard.
Dates
- Creation: 1825-1827
Researcher Access
Faculty reports by John Snelling Popkin, Eliot Professor of Greek Literature are open for research. Access to fragile original documents may be restricted. Please consult the Public Services staff for further details.
Copying Restriction
Copying of fragile materials may be limited.
Extent
.2 cubic feet (1 half-document box)The faculty reports in this collection provide an overview of the classical instruction given to students at Harvard in the early nineteenth century by John Snelling Popkin, Eliot Professor of Greek Literature from 1825 to 1827. The reports also document Popkin's apprehension about the introduction of modern languages to the college curriculum (ca. 1825) and the impact this new curriculum might have on the standing of classical studies at Harvard. The reports note the number of lessons offered to students each week, the number of pages students read in class, the dates of student examinations, the performance and progress each class made in recitations, the length of time for each lesson, the number of students attending class, and the books studied by Popkin's students such as Collectanea Graeca Mojora, the Iliad, the Oration of Aeschines against Ctesiphon, and Aristotle's Poetics.
The records were assembled as an archival collection by the archivist at an unknown date from various sources without regard to original provenance in order to document University professorships.
Historical Note on John Snelling Popkin
John Snelling Popkin (1771-1852), minister and Greek scholar, served as College Professor of Greek at Harvard from 1815 to 1826 and Eliot Professor of Greek Literature from 1826 to 1833. Popkin introduced Andrew Dalzel's Collectanea Graeca Majora to Harvard in 1804 and edited the first American version in 1808. This work contained extracts from Greek literature such as Homer's Odyssey, the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, and Euripides' Media. The Majora was widely used in teaching Greek in American colleges in the first half of the nineteenth century and went through thirty-three American editions.
Historical Note on the Eliot Professorship of Greek Literature
The Eliot Professorship of Greek Literature was founded in 1814 by an unknown benefactor. Upon the death of Samuel Eliot (1739-1820), the Corporation was informed that he had been the benefactor, and the chair was named the Eliot Professorship of Greek Literature.
Arrangement
The records are arranged chronologically by date.
Acquisition information
The materials in this collection are University records and were acquired in the course of University business.
References
- Bentinck-Smith, William and Elizabeth Stouffer. "Eliot Professorship of Greek Literature 1814." In Harvard University, History of Named Chairs: Sketches of Donors and Donations. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Secretary to the University, 1991.
- "Popkin, John Snelling." Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ed. James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. Vol. V. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1888. 69-70.
- Quincy, Josiah. The History of Harvard University. Vol. II. Cambridge, Massachusetts: John Owen, 1840.
- Winterer, Caroline. The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780-1910. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2002.
Inventory update
This document last updated 2016 August 11.
Processing Information
This material was first classified and described in a Harvard University Archives shelflist prior to 1980. The material was re-processed in 2011. Re-processing involved a collection survey, enhanced description of items from the nineteenth century, and the creation of this finding aid.
This finding aid was created by Dominic P. Grandinetti in August 2011.
- Title
- Popkin, John Snelling, 1771-1852. Faculty reports by John Snelling Popkin, Eliot Professor of Greek Literature, 1825-1827 : an inventory
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua49011
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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