Person:Anthony Askew (4)

Personal History

A couple of brief biographies

—one published in 1861 and the other in 1902—

« Was born in a house in the Market-place, Kendal, which, together with other property contiguous to it, belonged to his father, Adam Askew, M.D. He was born in 1722; and was educated at Sedbergh school, and afterwards at Emanuel College, Cambridge. He was made B.A. in 1745, then went to Leyden, where he remained a year, and next year visited Constantinople with the English ambassador whence he returned through Italy, to Paris, in 1749, when he was made a member of the Academy of Belles Lettres. In 1750, he took the degree of M.D. at Cambridge. He proposed an edition of Ӕschylus, and published a specimen of it, but nothing more; and died February 27, 1774, aged 52, leaving a family of five sons and four daughters.

« He acquired great reputation, at home and abroad, on account of his collection of Greek manuscripts, which was more numerous and more valuable than that of any other private gentleman in England. These manuscripts Dr. Askew purchased at a considerable expense in the East, and brought with him to England. His collection also of printed Greek books, when sold, was allowed to consist of a greater number of scarce and valuable editions of the classics than had ever before been exposed to sale in this country, and the sale realized ipwards of 1,300ll. When abroad, he kept an album, which, among other testimonies to his merit from distinguished foreigners, contains many compliments and epigrams addressed to him by modern Greeks. This Album os nowamong the manuscripts of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

« The Appendix to Scapula, published in 1789, was compiled from one of his manuscripts. » ——From: The Annals of Kendal: being a Historical and Descriptive Account of Kendal and the Neighbourhood: with Biographical Sketches of many eminent personages connected with the town. by Cornelius Nicholson F.G.S. London, Whitaker & Co.; [etc.] Second Edition, 1861. p.348.^S4, Note: The first edition of this book was published in 1832.

« Dr. Anthony Askew, M.D., was born at Kendal, Westmoreland, in the year 1722. His father was Dr. Adam Askew, an eminent physician of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He received his education at Sedbergh School, the Grammar School of Newcastle, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He took the degree of M.B. in 1745, and that of M.D. five years later. After leaving the University he went to Leyden, where he remained twelve months studying medicine, and then undertook an extensive tour on the Continent, during which he purchased a large number of valuable books and manuscripts. Dibdin says he was well known as a collector in most parts of Europe. In 1750, having finished his travels, Askew returned to Cambridge, where he practised for some time as a physician. He afterwards removed to London, where, aided by the patronage and support of his friend Dr. Mead, he soon acquired a considerable reputation, but he is better known as a scholar than a physician. Dr. Parr entertained a very high opinion of his attainments in Greek and Roman literature. Askew was a Fellow and Registrar of the College of Physicians, and also a Fellow of the Royal Society. He died at Hampstead on the 27th of February 1774.

« Dr. Askew was an indefatigable collector, and filled his house from the ground floor to the attics with rare and handsomely bound books. The library, which numbered about seven thousand volumes, was extremely rich in early editions of the Greek and Latin classics, and its owner was ambitious that it should contain every edition of a Greek author. It comprised the first editions of the De Officiis of Cicero, the Natural History of Pliny, Cornelius Nepos, the History of Ammianus Marcellinus, the Fables of Æsop, the Works of Plato, and of many other Greek and Latin writers; the greater number of them being printed on vellum. A vellum copy of the Rationale of Durandus, printed by Fust and Schoeffer at Mentz in 1459; a first edition of the Teseide of Boccaccio, printed on vellum at Ferrara in 1475; a copy of the Greek Anthology, also on vellum, printed at Florence in 1494; Tully of Old Age, printed by Caxton, and a fine vellum copy of the Tewrdannck, were a few of the other notable books in the collection.

« The printed books in the library were sold by Baker and Leigh at their auction rooms in York Street, Covent Garden, on the 13th of February 1775, and the nineteen following days. The lots were three thousand five hundred and seventy in number, and realised three thousand nine hundred and ninety-three pounds and sixpence. Among the purchasers at the sale were King George III., Louis XVI., King of France, Dr. Hunter and the Rev. C.M. Cracherode. The British Museum also acquired a considerable number of the books. The manuscripts, and the printed books with manuscript notes, were sold by Leigh and Sotheby in 1785. The sale took place on March the 7th and the eight subsequent days. There were six hundred and thirty-three lots, which produced eighteen hundred and twenty-seven pounds.

« Askew was the author of a manuscript volume of Greek and Latin Inscriptions, copied by him during his travels in Greece and the Levant. The collection is preserved among the Burney Manuscripts in the British Museum. » ——From: English Book Collectors by William Younger Fletcher (1830-1913), The English Bookman's Library, London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner and Company, Limited, 1902. pp.219-221.^S7,

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 College of Arms ms 5.D.14, 108: 'The Pedigree of Adam Askew, Esquire, of Newcastle upon Tyne'
   1760.

   « Anthony Askew of London Esqr. M.D. F.R.S. F.C.P. and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres at Paris born May 5th. 1722. Lord of the manor of Midgham in the County of Berks. »

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 College of Arms: 'Bigland Miscellaneous Pedigrees volume XVI, 82'
   1760.

   « Anthony Askew of London (Esquire M.D. F.R.S. F.C.P.) [last word and letters inferred from ^S1 - part of a blotched-out section] Hon. Fellow of the Royal Academy of Inscrips. & Belles Lts. at Paris. Born ~ May 5 Anno 1722. Married Nov 15 1751. [this last sentence struck through] Possessed of the Manor of Midgham in Berkshire. »
   Note: The "Married Nov 15 1751" refers to the date of his first marriage to Margaret Swinburn - by whom he had no children. And it would have been struck through here because the chart shows this date again (not struck through) in the block of text for said first wife; while the "Mar 5 1757" date for his second marriage is shown in the block of text for his second wife Elizabeth Holford - the mother of all his children.

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 FamilySearch.org - England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975.

   « ANTHO ASKEW - International Genealogical Index / BI - Father: ADAM ASKEW / Mother: ANN / Gender: Male / Christening: 07 MAY 1722 / Christening Place: Kendal, Westmorland, England »
   Source: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, index, FamilySearch Accessed on 6 Oct. 2013 at: familysearch.org

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Cornelius Nicholson: The annals of Kendal: being a historical and descriptive account of Kendal and the neighbourhood: with biographical sketches of many eminent personages connected with the town, London, Whitaker & Co.; [etc.] 1861. p.348.

   « ANTHONY ASKEW, M.D.,
   Was born in a house in the Market-place, Kendal, which, together with other property contiguous to it, belonged to his father, Adam Askew, M.D. He was born in 1722; and was educated at Sedbergh school, and afterwards at Emanuel College, Cambridge. He was made B.A. in 1745, then went to Leyden, where he remained a year, and next year visited Constantinople with the English ambassador whence he returned through Italy, to Paris, in 1749, when he was made a member of the Academy of Belles Lettres. In 1750, he took the degree of M.D. at Cambridge. He proposed an edition of Ӕschylus, and published a specimen of it, but nothing more; and died February 27, 1774, aged 52, leaving a family of five sons and four daughters. .... »
   Accessed on: books.google.co.uk

5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} The Dictionary of National Biography in 22 volumes, 1921–1922., Vol. I, Abbadie – Beadon
   pp. 664-665.

   « ASKEW, ANTHONY, M.D. (1722-1774), was born at Kendal, Westmoreland, and was the son of Dr. Adam Askew, a well-known physician of Newcastle, .... »
   Source Information: Ancestry.com. Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
   Original data: Stephen, Sir Leslie, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, 1921–1922. Volumes 1–20, 22. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1921–1922. > Accessed on: www.ancestry.co.uk

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} M. J. Mercer, ‘Askew, Anthony (bap. 1722, d. 1774)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.

   « Askew, Anthony (bap. 1722, d. 1774), physician and book collector, was born in Kendal, Westmorland, where he was baptized on 7 May 1722, the son of Adam Askew, physician, and his wife, Anne Crackenthorp. ... He married twice. His first wife, whom he married at Hartburn, Northumberland, on 15 November 1751, was Margaret, daughter of Cuthburt Swinburn of Longwitton, Northumberland; the marriage was childless. Askew married secondly, in 1757, Elizabeth (1734–1773), younger daughter of Robert Holford, master in chancery; they had twelve children. ... Elizabeth Askew died on 2 August 1773 and Askew died at his home in Hampstead on 27 February 1774; he was buried in Hampstead church. .... »
   Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005 > Accessed 10 Dec. 2007 on: www.oxforddnb.com

7. ↑ ^7.0 7.1 English Book Collectors by William Younger Fletcher (1830-1913), The English Bookman's Library, London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner and Company, Limited, 1902
   pp. 219-221.

   « DR. ANTHONY ASKEW, 1722-1774
   Dr. Anthony Askew, M.D., was born at Kendal, Westmoreland, in the year 1722. His father was Dr. Adam Askew, an eminent physician of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He received his education at Sedbergh School, the Grammar School of Newcastle, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He took the degree of M.B. in 1745, and that of M.D. five years later. After leaving the University he went to Leyden, where he remained twelve months studying medicine, and then undertook an extensive tour on the Continent, during which he purchased a large number of valuable books and manuscripts. Dibdin says he was well known as a collector in most parts of Europe. In 1750, having finished his travels, Askew returned to Cambridge, where he practised for some time as a physician. He afterwards removed to London, where, aided by the patronage and support of his friend Dr. Mead, he soon acquired a considerable reputation, but he is better known as a scholar than a physician. Dr. Parr entertained a very high opinion of his attainments in Greek and Roman literature. Askew was a Fellow and Registrar of the College of Physicians, and also a Fellow of the Royal Society. He died at Hampstead on the 27th of February 1774.
   Dr. Askew was an indefatigable collector, and filled his house from the ground floor to the attics with rare and handsomely bound books. The library, which numbered about seven thousand volumes, was extremely rich in early editions of the Greek and Latin classics, and its owner was ambitious that it should contain every edition of a Greek author. ...
   ...
   Askew was the author of a manuscript volume of Greek and Latin Inscriptions, copied by him during his travels in Greece and the Levant. The collection is preserved among the Burney Manuscripts in the British Museum. »
   Accessed on 6 Oct. 2013 at: gutenberg.org

8. ↑ ^8.0 8.1 Memorial plaque in Hampstead Parish Church.

   « Sacred to the Memory of / ANTHONY ASKEW, M.D. F.R.S. / Who departed this life on the 27th. of February 1774, aged 52 years. »
   From a copy of a photograph courtesy of Caroline Whately-Smith sent to Robin Cary Askew by email (30-01-2009).
   NOTE (by R.C.A.): There is either a mistaken version of this - or a transcription of another plaque in the same church - in the entry for Dr. Anthony Askew in the Munk's Roll of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Vol. II, p. 185 - as published on the Internet at: munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk > RCP Heritage : Munk's Roll : Volume II : Anthony Askew >
   « ... Dr. Askew died at Hampstead 28th February, 1774, aged fifty-two, and was buried there. On a tablet near the organ in Hampstead church is the following inscription:-
   "Sacred to the memory of / ANTHONY ASKEW, MD FRS, / who exchanged this life for a better, / the 28th day of February, 1774, / in the fifty-second year of his age." .... »
   And this confusion of one day is repeated (with both dates) in: The Topography and Natural History of HAMPSTEAD in the County of Middlesex, with an Appendix of Original Records, by John James Park, published in London, 1814 >
   « On a marble tablet near the organ:
   Sacred to the memory of / ANTHONY ASKEW, D. M. F. R. S. / who exchanged this life for a better / the 28th day of February, 1774, / in the 52d year of his age, / And also of MARY ASKEW, / his youngest daughter, / who died the 9th day of January, 1786, / in the 14th year of her age.
   « ANTHONY ASKEW, M. D. and F. R. and A. SS. died at Hampstead Feb. 27, 1774, aet. 52. This gentleman was very conspicuous among the literati of the last generation, and was possessed of considerable classical erudition ; but he is better known in the present day as a victim to the disorder lately arranged in the catalogue of human woes, under the name of Bibliomania. See a circumstantial memoir of him in Mr. Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, 111.494.
   « Dr. Askew married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Holford, Esq. Master in Chancery, who died 2 Aug. 1773, aet. 39, as appears by her monument on the South wall of the chancel of Hammersmith chapel. »

9. ↑ 'Hampstead - Hampton-Wick', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848)
   pp. 391-396.

   « Of the many distinguished persons interred at Hampstead, have been, Dr. Anthony Askew, a critic and physician; .... »
   Accessed 15 Nov. 2011 on: www.british-history.ac.uk

10. ↑ ^10.0 10.1 National Archives - 'Will of Doctor Antony Askew, M.D., Doctor of Physic of Queen Square, Middlesex'
    Written 16 August, 1773, proved 24 March, 1774.

    « I Antony Askew M. D. of Queen Square in the County of Middlesex do make this my last Will and Testament all written with my own hand ffirst I desire I may be privately interred in the Parish wherever I die with regard to my worldly effects I desire they may be disposed of as I have directed I give and bequeath my Estate of Smaythwaite(?) near Kendall in Westmoreland to my son Adam and his Heirs for ever .... »
    Description: Will of Doctor Antony Askew, M.D., Doctor of Physic of Queen Square , Middlesex / Date: 24 March 1774 / Catalogue reference: PROB 11/995 / Dept: Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury / Series: Prerogative Court of Canterbury and related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers / Piece: Name of Register: Bargrave Quire Number: 46 - 92 / Image contains: 1 will of many for the catalogue reference » Accessed and downloaded from: The National Archives