Joseph Spence

Joseph Spence (28 April 1699 – 20 August 1768) was a historian, literary scholar and anecdotist, most famous for his collection of anecdotes (published in 1820) that are an invaluable resource for historians of 18th-century English literature (Augustan literature).

Early life Spence was born on 28 April 1699, at Kingsclere, Hampshire, the son of Joseph (Rector of Winnal in Winchester and Precentor of Winchester Cathedral) and Mirabella (née Collier, granddaughter of Sir Thomas Lunsford).

In 1709, Spence attended school in Mortimer, near his birthplace, and later attended Eton College and then Winchester College. Spence matriculated to Magdalen Hall, Oxford on 11 April 1717, but did not go up until admitted as scholar or probationary fellow at New College on 22 April 1720. On 30 April 1722, he received a full fellowship, taking his Bachelor of Arts degree on 9 March 1724 and Master of Arts on 2 November 1727. Spence was ordained in the Oxford diocese on 5 June 1726. Early literary friends of Spence included fellow Wykehamists Edward Rolle, Robert Lowth, Christopher Pitt, and Edward Young.

Spence wrote an essay on Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's Odyssey in 1726 which gave rise to a friendship between Spence and Pope. In 1727 Pope published his comments on the second part of Spence's essay.

Later life Spence was elected as the Oxford Professor of Poetry on 11 July 1728, holding the post for maximum term allowed (ten years). The older of the two, Spence had, more than once, Edward Rolle as his deputy in the Poetry-Professorship at Oxford.

Works Spence's published works include An Essay on Pope's Odyssey (1726) and Polymetis (1747). Spence's unpublished works include his edition of travelling letters, notes for a gardening treatise, notes for a biographical history of English poetry, and his anecdotes, which include tales about Alexander Pope and other literary figures such as John Arbuthnot, Isaac Newton, and Stephen Duck.