Popkin, John Snelling, 1771-1852

Popkin graduated from Harvard in 1792 and taught Greek at Harvard.

From the description of Papers of John Snelling Popkin, 1801-1852 (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 567239307

From the description of Papers of John Snelling Popkin, 1801. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 76972848

From the description of Papers of John Snelling Popkin, 1801. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 181898157

John Snelling Popkin (1771-1852), minister and Greek scholar, served as College Professor of Greek at Harvard from 1815 to 1826 and Eliot Professor of Greek Literature from 1826 to 1833. Popkin introduced Andrew Dalzel's Collectanea Graeca Majora to Harvard in 1804 and edited the first American version in 1808. This work contained extracts from Greek literature such as Homer's Odyssey, the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, and Euripides' Media. The Majora was widely used in teaching Greek in American colleges in the first half of the nineteenth century and went through thirty-three American editions.

The Eliot Professorship of Greek Literature was founded in 1814 by an unknown benefactor. Upon the death of Samuel Eliot (1739-1820), the Corporation was informed that he had been the benefactor, and the chair was named the Eliot Professorship of Greek Literature.

From the guide to the Faculty reports by John Snelling Popkin, Eliot Professor of Greek Literature, 1825-1827, (Harvard University Archives)