Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol III (1901).djvu/318

 years of active work he retired, with the bishop's sanction, under a medical certificate from residential duty. Some of the curates-in-charge after this time introduced a ceremonial ritual into the church which evoked the opposition of protestant agitators.

Rodwell appears to have commenced oriental studies when quite a young man, by reading Hebrew with his uncle, the Rev. R. Kedington. In acquiring the elements of Arabic he was assisted by Catafago.

His greatest literary achievement was his English version of the Koran, which appeared in 1861 (2nd edit. 1876), and is considered by many scholars as the best existing translation, combining accuracy with a faithful representation of the literary garb of the original. His other works are translations of 'Job' (1864; 2nd edit. 1868) and 'Isaiah' (1881; 2nd edit. 1886). He also issued translations of collected liturgies from Ethiopic manuscripts (1864), and from the Coptic (1866), and briefly catalogued Lord Crawford's Coptic and Ethiopic manuscripts at Haigh Hall. The value or his work was recognised by his election to an honorary fellowship of his college on 7 Oct. 1886. Rodwell's extraordinary retentiveness of mental vigour may be estimated from the fact that he commenced the study of several fresh languages when past eighty years of age, and even in his 91st year (June 1898) printed a short pamphlet or open letter on the derivation and doctrinal significance of the word 'mass,' and somewhat later corresponded with the present writer as to books for the acquirement of Sanskrit.

He died at his house at St. Leonards-on-Sea on 6 June 1900, and is buried in Ore cemetery, Hastings.

Rodwell was twice married: (l)in 1834 to Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. William Parker, Rodwell's predecessor at St. Ethelburga's, by whom he had several children, two sons surviving, one being the Rev. W. M. Rodwell; (2) about 1860, to Louisa Rohrs.

 ROSMEAD, BARON. [See, 1824–1897.]  ROTHSCHILD, FERDINAND JAMES (1839–1898), known as Baron Ferdinand Rothschild, virtuoso, born at Paris in 1839, was second son of Baron Anselm de Rothschild of Frankfort and Vienna, by his first cousin Charlotte, eldest daughter of  [q. v.] Both father and mother were grandchildren of Meyer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of the great financial house. He was educated in Vienna, but settling in England in 1860, became a British subject and completely identified himself with the country. Buying an estate of about eight hundred acres at Waddesdon in Buckinghamshire, he erected thereon the mansion of Waddesdon Manor, after the style of the Chateau de Chambord. In 1885 he entered parliament for the Aylesbury division and retained the seat as long as he lived. But he devoted himself more particularly to social life and to his duties as a country gentleman, building up a model estate, breeding stock, and entertaining numerous distinguished guests among the latter Queen Victoria (14 May 1890), the Shah of Persia, the German Emperor Frederick, and on several occasions King Edward VII when prince of Wales. He was extremely interested in painting, especially that of the Low Countries and the work of Gainsborough and Reynolds, and he formed a fine collection at Waddesdon. In a family of collectors he was pre-eminent for his ability. The attention which he paid to the art of the Renaissance, especially bindings, enamels, furniture, and goldsmith's work, was repaid by a splendid collection of rare objects of the highest quality. His collection of French books, many in superb bindings, was catalogued partially in 1897 (London, 4to, private issue, with sixteen plates). His own favourite reading was among the French memoir writers, and he published some of his gleanings in a volume entitled 'Personal Characteristics from French History' (London, 1896, seventeen portraits, no index). Of more interest is 'Three Weeks in South Africa' (printed for private circulation, 1895), a brightly written diary of a trip on board the Dunottar Castle, December 1894–February 1895. In July 1897 he achieved a considerable triumph as a collector by the successful purchase of a Terburg, a Gerard Douw, and Cuyp's 'View on the Maas,' from the Six Museum at Amsterdam—a collection hitherto intact (Times, 26 July 1897). He was elected a trustee of the British Museum on 7 Feb. 1896, and until his death he took a keen interest in the work of the institution. He died suddenly of syncope at Waddesdon on 18 Dec. 1898, and by his will left a superb collection of jewels, plate, and other works of art to the British Museum, on the condition that they should be kept in a room apart from the other collections, to be known as the 'Waddesdon Bequest Room.' This room was opened to the public on 9 April 1900 (Catalogue of 