Nathaniel Hooke

Statut : Author

1690 (?)-1763

Notes : The writer Nathaniel Hooke was born in Dublin. He was probably educated with Alexander Pope at Twyford school near Winchester and subsequently formed a lifelong friendship with the poet. In 1702 he was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn. He enjoyed the confidence and patronage of a number of distinguished men including the Earl of Oxford, the Earl of Marchmont, Mr Speaker Onslow, Fénelon, Pope, Dr Cheyne and Dr King, principal of St Mary Hall, Oxford. After having acted as a literary secretary to the Duchess of Marlborough for several years, Hooke published her memoirs in 1742. A devout Catholic, he adopted François Fénelon’s quietist ideas and in 1723 and 1739 published translations from the French of the “Life of Fénelon” and “Travels of Cyrus” by the Scottish Fénelon disciple Sir Andrew Michael Ramsay. Among Hooke’s other works are his “Six Letters to a Lady of Quality upon the Subject of Religious Peace and the Foundations of It” (1791). Hooke died at Cookham in Berkshire and left two sons and one daughter. The plan for his “Roman History” emerged, when Hooke attempted to prepare an accurate summary to the English translation of Catrou and Rouillé’s “Histoire romaine”. The first 1738 volume was dedicated to Alexander Pope, the second volume published in 1745 was dedicated to Hugh Hume, Earl of Marchmont. The third volume appeared in 1764 after Hooke’s death, but was still printed under his inspection, while the fourth volume did not come out before 1771. Further editions of the work began to appear in 1751, 1757, 1766, 1767, 1770, 1806, 1810, 1821, 1823 and 1826. Hooke’s account covers Roman history from its beginnings until the end of the second triumvirate and the settlement of the Empire on Augustus. It was written with a view to presenting an account which was favourable to the plebeians. While his history is based on the works of Catrou, Rouillé and Vertot, Hooke was not satisfied with the method of these scholars since in his view they merely reiterated Roman authors in French. Hooke, on the other hand, intended to take a more critical approach by examining the credibility of the ancient and modern sources he dealt with. The second edition of his work includes two important additions: the introduction to the first volume entitled ‘Remarks on the History of the Seven Roman Kings, Occassioned by Sir Isaac Newton’s Objections to the Supposed 244 Years Duration of the Regal State of Rome’ and an introductory chapter to the second volume entitled ‘A Dissertation on the Credibility of the first 500 Years of Rome’. In the second piece Hooke reacted against Beaufort’s “Dissertation sur l’incertitude” and criticised his conclusions for being vague and confused, while arguing that there was little obscurity in the factual events of early Roman history. In a separate treatise, which was published in 1758 Hooke also commented on four works dealing with the Roman senate including Vertot’s answer to the late Earl Stanhope’s Inquiry.

Traductions :