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Attempt to clean up some chronological confusion: Adam went to Gonville and Caius in 1880, so the 1884 Aberdeen date cannot be correct. He did receive his *Cambridge* BA in that year, but the Emmanuel degrees were awarded *after* his fellowship.
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'''James Adam''' (7 April 1860 – 30 August 1907) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[classicist]]<ref name="frs">{{cite journal |last1=Carrington |first1=A. |last2=Hills |first2=G. J. |last3=Webb |first3=K. R. |title=Neil Kensington Adam 1891–1973 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1974.0001 |journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] |volume=20 |pages=1–26 |year=1974 |jstor=769631|doi-access=free }}</ref> who taught classics at [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]].
'''James Adam''' (7 April 1860 – 30 August 1907) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[classicist]] who taught classics at [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]].


==Life==
==Life==
He was born on 7 April 1860 in [[Kinmuck]] in the parish of Keithhall near [[Inverurie]], [[Aberdeenshire]]. He was educated at the Old Grammar School in [[Old Aberdeen]], at the [[University of Aberdeen]] where he studied under [[William Duguid Geddes|William Geddes]] and gained his B.A. as Senior Classic.<ref name="auto">{{acad|id=ADN880J|name=Adam, James}}</ref><!-- Date of 1884 (Cambridge alumni database; no original source given) cannot be right -- he was in Cambridge by 1880. --> He subsequently moved to [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]] in 1880,<ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jahfAAAAMAAJ&q=Neil+Kensington+Adam |title=The Owl of Minerva: the Cambridge praelections of 1906: reassessments of Richard Jebb, James Adam, Walter Headlam, Henry Jackson, William Ridgeway and Arthur Verrall |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge Philological Society |isbn=978-0-906014-27-1 |editor-last=Stray |editor-first=Christopher}}</ref>{{Rp|page=47}} receiving his Cambridge B.A. in 1884.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1907 |title=Obituary: Dr. James Adam |journal=The Classical Review |volume=21 |issue=8 |pages=250 |doi=10.1017/S0009840X00180485}}</ref>
James Adam was born on 7 April 1860 in [[Kinmuck]] in the parish of Keithhall near [[Inverurie]], [[Aberdeenshire]].<ref name=":1" /> He was the second son of James Adam, a shopkeeper and former farm servant, and of Adam's wife Barbara (''née'' Anderson), a farmer's daughter.<ref name="frs">{{cite journal |last1=Carrington |first1=A. |last2=Hills |first2=G. J. |last3=Webb |first3=K. R. |title=Neil Kensington Adam 1891–1973 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1974.0001 |journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] |volume=20 |pages=1–26 |year=1974 |jstor=769631|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|1}} The younger James was educated at the Old Grammar School in [[Old Aberdeen]], at the [[University of Aberdeen]] where he studied under [[William Duguid Geddes|William Geddes]] and gained his B.A. as Senior Classic in 1880.<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement|date=1912|first=Peter|last=Giles|wslanguage=en|wslink=Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Adam, James|volume=1|chapter=Adam, James}}</ref> He subsequently moved to [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]] in the same year,<ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jahfAAAAMAAJ&q=Neil+Kensington+Adam |title=The Owl of Minerva: the Cambridge praelections of 1906: reassessments of Richard Jebb, James Adam, Walter Headlam, Henry Jackson, William Ridgeway and Arthur Verrall |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge Philological Society |isbn=978-0-906014-27-1 |editor-last=Stray |editor-first=Christopher}}</ref>{{Rp|page=47}} receiving his Cambridge B.A. in 1884.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=1907 |title=Obituary: Dr. James Adam |journal=The Classical Review |volume=21 |issue=8 |pages=250 |doi=10.1017/S0009840X00180485|doi-access=free }}</ref>


In 1884 Adam was appointed Junior Fellow and soon thereafter Senior Lecturer in the Classics at [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge|Emmanuel College]]. He began lecturing on Greek poetry and philosophy in December 1884.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=52}} He was awarded his M.A. by Emmanuel in 1888, and his Litt. D. in 1903.<ref name="auto" />
In 1884 Adam was appointed Junior Fellow and soon thereafter Senior Lecturer in the Classics at [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge|Emmanuel College]]. He began lecturing on Greek poetry and philosophy in December 1884.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=52}} He was awarded his M.A. by Emmanuel in 1888, and his Litt. D. in 1903.<ref name="auto">{{acad|id=ADN880J|name=Adam, James}}</ref> He later became Senior Tutor at the college; he moved into the Senior Tutor's house in 1900.<ref name="frs" />{{rp|1–2}}


In 1890, a former student of his, [[Adela Marion Adam|Adela Marion]] (''née'' Kensington) (1866–1944),<ref name="frs"/> became his wife and lifelong collaborator. Their daughter, Barbara Frances (1897–1988), was the British sociologist and criminologist Lady [[Barbara Wootton]]; one of their sons, Captain Arthur Innes Adam, was killed in France on 16 September 1916;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/294703/ADAM,%20ARTHUR%20INNES |title=Casualty Details: Arthur Innes Adam |work=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] |access-date=27 March 2017}}</ref> and another son, [[Neil Kensington Adam]],<ref name="frs"/> became a noted chemist.
One of Adam's duties at Cambridge was to teach the students of [[Girton College, Cambridge|Girton College]], which was then open only to women.<ref name="frs" />{{rp|2}} In 1890, a former Girton student of his, [[Adela Marion Adam|Adela Marion]] (''née'' Kensington) (1866–1944),<ref name="frs"/> became his wife and lifelong collaborator. Their daughter, Barbara Frances (1897–1988), was the British sociologist and criminologist Lady [[Barbara Wootton]]; one of their sons, Captain Arthur Innes Adam, was killed in France on 16 September 1916;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/294703/ADAM,%20ARTHUR%20INNES |title=Casualty Details: Arthur Innes Adam |work=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] |access-date=27 March 2017}}</ref> and another son, [[Neil Kensington Adam]],<ref name="frs"/> became a noted chemist.


Adam was "one of the greatest Platonists of his generation".<ref name="frs"/> His editions and commentaries on [[Plato]]'s ''Apology'', ''Crito'', ''Euthyphro'', ''Protagoras'', and the ''Republic'' are widely respected even today:
Adam was "one of the greatest Platonists of his generation".<ref name="frs"/> His editions and commentaries on [[Plato]]'s ''Apology'', ''Crito'', ''Euthyphro'', ''Protagoras'', and the ''Republic'' are widely respected even today:

Latest revision as of 03:11, 25 December 2023

James Adam
James Adam
James Adam
Born(1860-04-07)7 April 1860
Kinmuck, Keithhall, Aberdeen, Scotland
Died30 August 1907(1907-08-30) (aged 47)
Aberdeen, Scotland
OccupationAcademic
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Aberdeen
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Notable worksPlatonis Crito
The Republic of Plato
The Religious Teachers of Greece
SpouseAdela Marion Adam (née Kensington)
Children3, Barbara, Arthur, Neil

James Adam (7 April 1860 – 30 August 1907) was a Scottish classicist who taught classics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Life

[edit]

James Adam was born on 7 April 1860 in Kinmuck in the parish of Keithhall near Inverurie, Aberdeenshire.[1] He was the second son of James Adam, a shopkeeper and former farm servant, and of Adam's wife Barbara (née Anderson), a farmer's daughter.[2]: 1  The younger James was educated at the Old Grammar School in Old Aberdeen, at the University of Aberdeen where he studied under William Geddes and gained his B.A. as Senior Classic in 1880.[3] He subsequently moved to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in the same year,[4]: 47  receiving his Cambridge B.A. in 1884.[1]

In 1884 Adam was appointed Junior Fellow and soon thereafter Senior Lecturer in the Classics at Emmanuel College. He began lecturing on Greek poetry and philosophy in December 1884.[4]: 52  He was awarded his M.A. by Emmanuel in 1888, and his Litt. D. in 1903.[5] He later became Senior Tutor at the college; he moved into the Senior Tutor's house in 1900.[2]: 1–2 

One of Adam's duties at Cambridge was to teach the students of Girton College, which was then open only to women.[2]: 2  In 1890, a former Girton student of his, Adela Marion (née Kensington) (1866–1944),[2] became his wife and lifelong collaborator. Their daughter, Barbara Frances (1897–1988), was the British sociologist and criminologist Lady Barbara Wootton; one of their sons, Captain Arthur Innes Adam, was killed in France on 16 September 1916;[6] and another son, Neil Kensington Adam,[2] became a noted chemist.

Adam was "one of the greatest Platonists of his generation".[2] His editions and commentaries on Plato's Apology, Crito, Euthyphro, Protagoras, and the Republic are widely respected even today:

[His] two-volume critical edition of the Republic was another major contribution to the field. Though his preface claims 'an editor cannot pretend to have exhausted its significance by means of a commentary,' Adam's depth of knowledge and erudite analysis of the Greek text ensured that his edition remained the standard reference for decades to follow, and it remains a thought-provoking evaluation of one of the great works of Western thought.[7]

He was a "strong defender of the importance of Greek philosophy in a well-rounded education"[8] and "a resolute opponent of all attempts to make Greek an optional study".[5] He was also a "keen supporter of the claims of women to degrees, when the question came before the senate of the university in 1897"[9]

In 1904 and 1905 Adam delivered the Gifford Lectures at Aberdeen, choosing for his subject "The Religious Teachers of Greece".

He died in Aberdeen on 30 August 1907.

Editions and commentaries on Plato

[edit]
  • Platonis Apologia Socratis. Cambridge University Press, 1887. New edition, 1891.
  • Platonis Crito. Cambridge University Press, 1888. 2nd edition, 1893.
  • Platonis Euthyphro. Cambridge University Press, 1890.
  • Platonis Protagoras. Cambridge University Press, 1893 with Adela Marion Adam.
  • The Republic of Plato. Cambridge University Press, 1897. Republic of Plato, Books I–V. 1902. Republic of Plato, Books VI–X and indices. 1902.[10] 2nd edition edited by D. A. Rees, 1965.

Other writings

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Obituary: Dr. James Adam". The Classical Review. 21 (8): 250. 1907. doi:10.1017/S0009840X00180485.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Carrington, A.; Hills, G. J.; Webb, K. R. (1974). "Neil Kensington Adam 1891–1973". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 20: 1–26. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1974.0001. JSTOR 769631.
  3. ^ Giles, Peter (1912). "Adam, James" . Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement . Vol. 1 – via Wikisource.
  4. ^ a b Stray, Christopher, ed. (2005). The Owl of Minerva: the Cambridge praelections of 1906: reassessments of Richard Jebb, James Adam, Walter Headlam, Henry Jackson, William Ridgeway and Arthur Verrall. Cambridge Philological Society. ISBN 978-0-906014-27-1.
  5. ^ a b "Adam, James (ADN880J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  6. ^ "Casualty Details: Arthur Innes Adam". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  7. ^ James Adam (ed.), "The Republic of Plato", PhilPapers. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. ^ The Republic of Plato, Volume 2. Books VI–X and Indexes, cambridge.org. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  9. ^ Giles, Peter; Schofield, Mark J. "Adam, James (1860–1907), classical scholar and philosopher". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30331. Retrieved 23 May 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ^ "Review of The Republic of Plato edited by James Adam, vols. I & II". The Athenaeum (3946): 751–752. 13 June 1903.
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