Simon Ockley

SIMON OCKLEY (1678-1720), Orientalist, was born at Exeter in 1678?. He was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, and graduated B.A. in 1697, M.A. in 1701?, and B.D. in 1710; he became fellow of Jesus College and vicar of Swavesey, and in 1711 was chosen Arabic professor of the university.

He had a large family, and his latter days were embittered by pecuniary embarrassments, which form the subject of a chapter in D'Israeli's Calamities of Authors. The preface to the second volume of his History of the Saracens is dated from Cambridge castle, where he lay a prisoner for debt. He died in the year 1720. His chief work is The History of the Saracens, in 2 vols. 8vo, 1708-18, which long enjoyed a great reputation; unfortunately Ockley took as his main authority a MS. in the Bodleian? of Pseudo-Wakidi's Futúh al-Shám, which is rather historical romance than history.

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text from the 9th edition (1880s) of an unnamed encyclopedia