Thomas Rymer
Thomas Rymer was born at Appleton Wiske, near Northallerton in the North Riding of Yorkshire around 1643. He studied for eight years under Thomas Smelt at Northallerton Grammar School. A noted Royalist taught there during a turbulent period of English history. His father Ralph held the manor of Brafferton and possessed a good estate according to Clarendon. Financial troubles struck the family while Thomas remained at Sidney Sussex College. His father faced arrest on the 13th of October 1663 for involvement in the Farnley Wood Plot. This uprising aimed against Charles II failed and resulted in execution the following year. Thomas escaped implication despite his elder brother Ralph being imprisoned. He matriculated at Cambridge on the 29th of April 1659 but never took a degree.
Rymer published literary criticism notably against Shakespeare starting from 1674. His work The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider'd appeared in 1678 with a printed letter to Fleetwood Shepheard. Here he discussed plays by John Fletcher Philip Massinger Ben Jonson and George Chapman. It was within this discussion that Rymer coined the term poetical justice. He also wrote a verse tragedy called Edgar or the English Monarch licensed on the 13th of September 1677. That play failed upon its initial presentation though it received a second edition in 1693. Dryden prefaced Ovid's Epistles Translated by Several Hands which included Rymer's contribution Penelope to Ulysses. A General Draught and Prospect of the Government of Europe reprinted in 1689 contained an observation about historiographers royal truthfulness.
On the death of Thomas Shadwell in 1692 Rymer received appointment as Historiographer Royal. This office provided a yearly salary of £200 for his services. A royal warrant issued in 1693 authorized him to collate treaties between England and foreign powers. Documents dating back to the 12th century were available at the Tower of London under his supervision. The position granted access to historical records held elsewhere throughout his tenure until 1713. He began work on what would become Foedera immediately after receiving these credentials. His role allowed him to examine original manuscripts that had been preserved for centuries. This access formed the foundation for his most significant scholarly achievement over the next two decades.
Rymer spent the last twenty years of his life preparing texts for publication. Volumes one through fifteen covered the period from May 1101 up to July 1586. Printing of volume fifteen finished on the 25th of August 1713 approximately four months before his death. Robert Sanderson completed and published material from volumes sixteen and seventeen by 1717. These final volumes extended coverage to 1625 marking the death of James I. An index written by Sanderson described the work as inconvenient yet necessary. Documents appeared in their original Latin without translation during this initial phase. Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy later provided English summaries in a Syllabus published between 1869 and 1885. Rymer's immense labour involved research and transcription across multiple decades of archival work.
George Holmes revised the first seventeen volumes into a second edition published from 1727 to 1735. He also issued corrections or Amendments in a single folio in 1730. John Neaulme edited a third Hague edition containing ten closely-printed folio volumes released between 1737 and 1745. This version included Sanderson's supplemental volumes eighteen through twenty which dealt with domestic history. The Record Commission proposed a supplement in 1800 but decided instead on complete revision by 1809. Dr Adam Clarke edited parts published from 1816 to 1830 alongside miscellaneous notes added in 1869. Hardy criticized Clarke for lacking skills in diplomacy despite his biblical scholarship. No complete correct revision has been published as of 2024 according to available records. Multiple editions suffer from various defects requiring cross-checking against Hardy's Syllabus.
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Common questions
When was Thomas Rymer born and where did he study?
Thomas Rymer was born at Appleton Wiske near Northallerton in the North Riding of Yorkshire around 1643. He studied for eight years under Thomas Smelt at Northallerton Grammar School before matriculating at Sidney Sussex College on the 29th of April 1659.
What literary works did Thomas Rymer publish between 1674 and 1680?
Thomas Rymer published The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider'd in 1678 which introduced the term poetical justice. He also wrote the verse tragedy Edgar or the English Monarch licensed on the 13th of September 1677 and contributed Penelope to Ulysses in Dryden's Ovid's Epistles Translated by Several Hands.
How did Thomas Rymer become Historiographer Royal and what salary did he receive?
Thomas Rymer received appointment as Historiographer Royal following the death of Thomas Shadwell in 1692. This office provided a yearly salary of £200 for his services and authorized him to collate treaties between England and foreign powers starting from 1693.
When was volume fifteen of Foedera completed and how long after that did Thomas Rymer die?
Printing of volume fifteen finished on the 25th of August 1713 approximately four months before Thomas Rymer died. His work covered documents dating back to May 1101 up to July 1586 across volumes one through fifteen.
Who edited subsequent editions of Thomas Rymer's Foedera after his death?
George Holmes revised the first seventeen volumes into a second edition published from 1727 to 1735 while John Neaulme edited a third Hague edition released between 1737 and 1745. Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy later provided English summaries in a Syllabus published between 1869 and 1885.