Myles Davies
Myles Davies (1662–1715 or 1716) was a Welsh-born British author. He published the Athenae Britannicae in 1716.[1]
Biography
Davies was a native of Whiteford, near Holywell in Flintshire, Wales.[1] His parents George and Elizabeth Davies lived in Tre'r Abbot.[2] Isaac D'Israeli said his biography was quite unknown. [3] He was educated at the English Jesuit College in Rome, and was made a Roman Catholic priest on 17 April 1688.[2] He left Rome on 15 October 1688 to work with the Jesuits in Wales, but soon converted to become a Protestant, and in 1705 published an explanation (apologia) for his surprising conversion in The Recantation of Mr Pollett, A Roman priest.[2]
The preface to one of his books describes him as a gentleman of the Inns of Court.[3] He was a learned and erudite scholar, but eccentric to the verge of insanity.[4]
In 1715 he published the first volume of his Athenae Britannicae, a critical history of pamphlets called Icon Libellorum. It was described as "a queer production, but cram full of curious information".[1] The Libellorum included a French letter and a Latin Ode to Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford.[5]
Davies became a mendicant scholar, selling his own books.[4] He would visit the house of a potential patron and send in a bundle of his books, with perhaps an ode to the recipient, in the hope of receiving a gift in return. He was often rejected or insulted when trying to obtain payment or return of his work.[6] By 1812, his work was described as extremely rare.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Myles Davies". Bye-gones, relating to Wales and the Border Counties. Oswestry & Border Counties Advertizer. 1883. p. 181.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jones, John James. "Welsh Biography Online". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. The National Library of Wales. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Odell & Philes 1878, pp. 314.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Urban 1812, pp. 561.
- ↑ Nichols & Bentley 1813, pp. 586.
- ↑ Smollett 1812, pp. 384.
Bibliography
- Nichols, John; Bentley, Samuel (1813). Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century: Comprizing Biographical Memoirs of William Bowyer, Printer, F.S.A., and Many of His Learned Friends; an Incidental View of the Progress and Advancement of Literature in this Kingdom During the Last Century; and Biographical Anecdotes of a Considerable Number of Eminent Writers and Ingenious Artists; with a Very Copious Index. London: Nichols, Son, and Bentley.
- Odell, Andrew J.; Philes, George Philip (1878). Bibliotheca curiosa. Catalogue of the library of Andrew J. Odell.
- Smollett, Tobias George (1812). "Review of Calamities of Authors". The Critical review, or, Annals of literature. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall.
- Urban, Sylvanus, ed. (June 1812). "Review of D'Israeli's Calamities of Authors". The Gentleman's magazine (London: Nichols, Son, and Bentley) 82 (1).
- Rose, Hugh James; Rose, Henry John; Wright, Thomas, eds. (1848). "Davies, Miles". New general biographical dictionary. 7 DAC–GEO. London: Fellowes. p. 32.
- Jenkins, Geraint H. (1987). The foundations of modern Wales: Wales 1642–1780. History of Wales 4. Clarendon Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-19-821734-3.
- Roberts, Thomas Rowland; Williams, Robert (1908). "Davies, Miles". Eminent Welshmen: a short biographical dictionary of Welshmen who have attained distinction from the earliest times to the present 1. Educational Publishing Co. p. 51.
- Collins, An (1961). "Miles Davies". In Stewart, Stanley N. Divine Songs and Meditacions (1653). Los Angeles: Clark Library. pp. 119 et seq.