561 



OLDHAM, JOHN. 



OLEARIUS, ADAM. 



612 



their secretary, observing that for his own part he was ashamed that 

 Oldenburg should have been permitted to devote so much time and 

 pains to the business of the Society without any consideration. The 

 result of the application does not appear. The ' Transactions ' pub- 

 lished by Oldenburg extend from No. 1, dated March 6, 1664, to 

 No. 136, dated June 25, 1677, the year preceding his death. In 1675 

 he was accused by Hooke of not having done justice to him on the 

 subject of the invention of spiral springs for pocket-watches. The 

 dispute which ensued was at length terminated by a declaration of the 

 council, "that the publisher of the 'Transactions' had carried himself 

 faithfully and honestly in the managing of the intelligence of the Royal 

 Society, and had given no cause for such reflections." 



Oldenburg married the daughter of the learned John Dury, with 

 whom he received an estate in Kent valued at 601. a year. His only 

 child was Kupert, named after his godfather Prince Rupert. He died, 

 according to moat authorities, in 1678 (Thomson says September 

 1677) at Charlton, near Woolwich, where his body was interred. 



He is author of a few short papers upon medical and other subjects 

 in the ' Philosophical Transai>ioiic,' and also of some "twenty tracts, 

 chiefly theological and political, in which be principally aimed at 

 reconciling differences and promoting peace and unanimity." (Button.) 

 He published, under the name of ' Grubendol ' (an anagrammatiaed 

 form of his real name), English translations of 1, 'Prodromus to a 

 dissertation by Nich. Steno, concerning Solids naturally contained 

 within Solids,' 1671, 8vo; 2, 'A Genuine Explication of the Book of 

 Revelation, full of sundry new Christian Considerations;' 3, 'The 

 Life of the Duchess of Mazarine,' from the French. It is also stated 

 that he translated several of Mr. Boyle's works into Latin. 



The letters of Oldenburg, dated in 1667, leave no doubt that, during 

 some part of that year, he was confined to the Tower upon political 

 grounds. 



OLDHAM, JOHN, an English satirical poet, was born August 9, 

 1653, at Shipton, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, where his father was 

 minister of a nonconformist church. From his father he received an 

 excellent general and classical education, but was sent to Tetbury 

 grammar-school for two years before proceeding to Oxford. He was 

 admitted bachelor of Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he distinguished 

 himself an a Latin scholar, but became still better known by his 

 English poetry. Soon after taking his RA. degree (1674) he left the 

 university and was for a while usher in the Free School, Croydon, 

 Surrey. Whilst there some verses of his having fallen into the hands 

 of the Earl of Dorset, Lord Rochester, and Sir Charles Sedley, he was 

 Bought out by them and other persons of note, and by their interest 

 appointed tutor to the grandsons of Sir Edward Thurlow of Reigate, 

 Surrey. There he remained till 1681, when he entered in the same 

 capacity into the family of Dr. Lower, an eminent London physician, 

 by whose advice he commenced the study of medicine. But as soon 

 as his engagement with Dr. Lower was ended, ho gave up all thoughts 

 of prosecuting his medical studies and devoted himself to poetry and 

 pleasure, becoming the associate of the wits of the day, to whom his 

 poetic talents, conversational powers, and social habits made him very 

 acceptable. His poetry and his wit procured him a special patron in 

 the Earl of Kingston, to whose house he removed, and who is said to 

 have persuaded him to prepare for holy orders, promising to make him 

 his chaplain. He died of small-pox at the earl's seat, Holme Pier- 

 point, December 8, 1683, at the early age of thirty. 



Oldham was greatly esteemed by his contemporaries, though objec- 

 tions were made to the freedom of some of his verses. Dryden has 

 eulogised him in terms of affectionate admiration. His principal 

 poems are ' Four Satires against the Jesuits,' ' Pindaric Odes,' transla- 

 tions from Juvenal, &c. His poetry has great strength and originality, 

 and in the opinion of Hallam " he is far superior in his satires to 

 Marvell, and ranks perhaps next to Dryden." His poems have been 

 several times printed in a collected shape ; and they form a volume of 

 Bell's 'Annotated Edition of the English Poets,' 1854. 



OLDMIXON, JOHN, one of the heroes of the Duuciad, was born 

 in 1673. The place and kind of his education are unknown. His 

 authorship appears to have begun with the drama, in which he was 

 thoroughly unsuccessful; and his principal productions were historical, 

 political, and critical. He superintended, carelessly and unfaithfully, 

 the first edition of the collection of English historians which bears the 

 name of Bishop Kennett He himself wrote also, ' A Critical History 

 of England,' ' The History of England during the Reigns of the House 

 of Stuart,' and ' The History of England during the Reigns of William 

 and Mary, Anne, and George I.' These dull and unlearned works are 

 chiefly remarkable for their strong spirit of Whig partisanship. In 

 criticism Oldmixon was distinguished fur his unscrupulous abuse of 

 Pope and other eminent men of his day. He found abundant oppor- 

 tunity for venting his bile, not only in contributions to periodical 

 prints, but in his ' Prose Essay on Criticism,' and his ' Arts of Logic 

 and Rhetoric' (a clumsy adaptation from Bouhours). His party- 

 services were rewarded by an appointment to the place of collector of 

 the customs at the port of Bridgewatrr. He died in London, in 

 1742. 



OLDYS, WILLIAM, an industrious and accurate bibliographer, 

 and a useful biographical writer, was born in the year 1C87. He was 

 the natural son of Dr. Oldys, chancellor of Lincoln and advocate of 

 the Admiralty Court. His father left him some property, but he 



Bioo. DIV. vol. iv. 



seems to have fallen into extravagant and intemperate habits, and 

 soon dissipated it. He was earning a somewhat precarious livelihood 

 when he was induced to devote his time to the service of the Earl of 

 Oxford, whose library he brought into order, and enriched with 

 various choice printed and manuscript works, which he seems to have 

 diligently sought out in private hands, as well as at auctions. He also 

 made the catalogue of that nobleman's collection of books and manu- 

 scripts when it was prepared for sale by Osborne the bookseller. 

 Oldys spent about ten years, at first in part and afterwards entirely, 

 in the earl's service, yet he declares that in all he did not receive from 

 him more than 5001. The Duke of Norfolk appointed him to the 

 situation of Norroy King-at-Arms. He died on the 15th of April 1761, 

 aged seventy-four. His dissolute habits continued through life, and 

 he died poor. 



He was the author of the following works : ' The British Librarian, 

 exhibiting a compendious View of all unpublished and valuable Books 

 in all Sciences, as well in MS. as in Print,' 8vo, London, 1737 : anony- 

 mous. This work, though long neglected, is now esteemed for its 

 accuracy and usefulness. A ' Life of Sir Walter Raleigh,' prefixed to 

 Kaleigh's ' History of the World,' folio, 1738. A translation of Cam- 

 den's 'Britannia,' 2 vola. 4to, has been ascribed to him, almost with 

 certainty. ' The Harleian Miscellany, or a Collection of scarce, 

 curious, and entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts,' 8 vols. 4to, London. 

 1753. He wrote in the 'Biographia Britaunica' the lives distinguished 

 by the signature ' G,' among which are those of T. and E. Alleyu, 

 Eugene Aram, Caxton, Sir George Etherege, Sic. Besides the above 

 works, he published a few others on bibliographical and medical sub- 

 jects ; and several manuscript notes on subjects of bibliography, 

 together with a copy of Laugbaine's ' Lives," filled with remarks, are 

 preserved in the British Museum. 



OLEA'RIUS, ADAM, whose proper name was OELSCHLAGER, 

 was born about the year 1600, in the country of Anhalt. He studied 

 at Leipzig, and made considerable progress in mathematics and 

 philology. Frederic, duke of Holstein Gottorp, having resolved to 

 send an embassy to Russia for the purpose of opening a commercial 

 intercourse through that country with' Persia and India, appointed 

 Crusius, a civilian, and Brugman, a merchant, as envoys, and named 

 Olearius secretary to the embassy. The envoys left Holstein in 

 October 1633, and arrived at Moscow in August 1634, where they 

 were well received by the Czar Michael Federowitz, who was related 

 to Duke Frederic. The czar gave them permission to proceed to Persia 

 by the Volga and the Caspian Sea, and encouraged them in their 

 undertaking. They however returned to Gottorp in April 1635, in 

 order to make further preparations for the journey. In the mouth 

 of October of the same year the -embassy set off again, arrived at 

 Moscow in March 1636, and thence descended by various rivers to the 

 Volga, and down that stream to Astrakhan, where they arrived in 

 September. From Astrakhan they sailed into the Caspian Sea, but 

 were wrecked off Derbent; and in December they pursued their 

 journey by land, passing through Ardebil, Sultanieh, Casbin, and 

 Koom. In August 1637 they reached Ispahan, then the capital of 

 the Persian kingdom. After spending several mouths at Ispahan, the 

 two envoys, with Olearius, retraced their steps to Derbent, and thence 

 by land to Astrakhan, passing through the desert of Lesgliistau, and 

 in January 1639 they entered Moscow for the third time. On the 

 following August they returned to Gottorp. In consequence of this 

 mission the Shah of Persia sent an envoy to the Duke of Holsteiu. 

 Olearius published a narrative of his journey, ' Muscowitiache und 

 Persische Reisebeschreibung/ fol., Sclileswig, 1647, with plates. It 

 was translated into French by Wiequefort, 4to, 1656, and both the 

 original and the translation went through several editions. Tue work 

 was also translated into Dutch, Utrecht, 1651 ; and into English, 

 ' Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors sent by Frederic, Duke of 

 Holstein, to the Great Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia ; 

 with John A. de Mandelslo's Travels from Persia into the East Indies,' 

 translated by J. Davis, fol., London, 1662. 



Olearius was a judicious observer, and a conscientious but rather 

 diffuse writer. His account of the state of Russia two centuries ago 

 is extremely curious, as well as the information which he givea con- 

 cerning Persia. He agrees with other modern travellers in describing 

 the Persians as a very corrupt people, and as more debased than the 

 Turks, though at the same time more refined in external behaviour. 

 The then reigning sovereign of Persia, Sain Mirza, called also Shah 

 Sefi, grandson of Shah Abbas, he describes ns a monster of cruelty and 

 lust. Olearius also speaks very frankly of the conduct of some of the 

 members of the embassy, especially the envoy Brugman, who behaved 

 in a very improper and intemperate manner on several occasions, 

 (b. iv.) 



Olearius also published the narrative of Mandelslo's travels to India, 

 which is annexed to the later editions of the travels of Olearius, as 

 well as to the English translation above mentioned. Maudelslo was a 

 young German nobleman who accompanied the embassy to Ispahan, 

 whence he proceeded to India by Ormuz and Surat. From Surat ha 

 went to Agra, where he saw Sultan Kurram, called also Shah Jehan, 

 the then sovereign of the Mogul empire. Returning to Surat, he 

 embarked for Goa, where he remained some time ; he then proceeded 

 by sea to Ceylon, whence he sailed again for Europe, where he arrived 

 at the end of 1639. Besides describing the places which he actually 



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