William Lauder (forger)
William Lauder | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1680 |
Died | 1771 (aged c. 81) |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Parent | John Lauder |
William Lauder (c. 1680 – 1771) was a Scottish literary forger, the second son of Dr William Lauder (1652–1724), one of the original 21 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, by his spouse Catherine Brown (died 1698). Dr William Lauder was a son of Sir John Lauder, 1st Baronet of Fountainhall.
While yet a boy, Lauder suffered amputation of one of his legs, in consequence of having accidentally received a stroke from a golf ball on his knee. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, acquired a high college character for talent and scholarship, and graduated in 1695. He applied unsuccessfully for the permanent post of Professor of Humanity there, in succession to Adam Watt, in whose place, since 1734, owing to Watt's illness, he had been teaching. "William Lauder, Teacher of Humanities at Edinburgh University" appears in a Disposition in the National Archives of Scotland, (GD267/27/138/1746) to Ninian Home of Billie, dated 25 August 1740.
Lauder had also applied at some point for the keepership of the university library. In 1739, he had published a collection of sacred poems by himself and other writers, mostly paraphrased from the Bible. These were published by Ruddiman in 2 volumes, under the title of Poetarum Scotorum Musae Sacrae, today a well-known work of Scottish literature.
In 1739, Lauder narrowly failed in his application to become one of the masters of the
His success was short-lived. Several scholars, who had independently studied the alleged sources of Milton's inspiration, showed that Lauder had not only garbled most of his quotations, but had inserted amongst them extracts from a
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lauder, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 279. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- The Scottish Nation, by William Anderson, Edinburgh, 1870, volume 2, pps: 631–2.
- Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, Cengage Learning. 1980–2009.
- Lee, Sidney (1892). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co.