Isaac Preston Cory
English barrister and compiler of Ancient Fragments (1826, 1832)
- Born
- 1802
- Died
- 1842, Blundeston, Suffolk
- Known for
- Ancient Fragments (1826; revised 1832)
- Contents
- Fragments of Berossus, Manetho, Sanchuniathon and others
- Education
- Caius College, Cambridge
Cambridge-trained barrister whose 1832 Ancient Fragments put Berossus and Manetho into English for general readers.
What is Isaac Preston Cory known for?
Isaac Preston Cory was an English barrister and antiquarian. He studied at Caius College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow, and was a keen book collector. He died young, in 1842.
His best-known work, Ancient Fragments, first appeared in 1826 and in a revised edition in 1832. It gathered in English the surviving quotations from lost ancient historians, especially the Babylonian priest Berossus, the Egyptian priest Manetho and the Phoenician writer Sanchuniathon, as they were preserved by later Greek and Christian authors such as Eusebius and George Syncellus. His friendship with the Neoplatonist Thomas Taylor helped him obtain further material.
Ancient Fragments was for a long time the easiest way for English readers to meet Berossus's Oannes, the fish-bodied being who taught civilisation, or Berossus's version of the Flood. Modern scholars use newer editions, but Cory's is public domain and widely quoted.
The site quotes Cory's 1832 Ancient Fragments for Berossus on Oannes and the Flood, and for Manetho.
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Isaac Preston Cory'Reference
- Internet Sacred Text Archive, Cory's 'Ancient Fragments' (1832)Primary text
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