Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 16.djvu/86

Dubois acter, and appeared when he was a young man. They were: 1. ‘A Piece of Family Biography,’ dedicated to George Colman, 3 vols., 1799. 2. ‘The Wreath; Selections from Sappho, Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus, with a Prose Translation and Notes. To which are added remarks on Shakespeare, and a comparison between Horace and Lucian,’ 1799. In this compilation he was assisted by Capel Lofft. The remarks on Shakespeare chiefly show coincidences and imitations between his works and those of the ancient classics. 3. ‘The Fairy of Misfortune, or the Loves of Octar and Zuleima, an Italian Tale translated from the French, by the author of “A Piece of Family Biography,”’ 1799. The original work, ‘Mirza and Fatimé,’ was published at the Hague in 1754. 4. ‘St. Godwin; a Tale of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Century, by Count Reginald de St. Leon,’ 1800. A skit on Godwin's novel of St. Leon. 5. ‘Old Nick; a Satirical Story in Three Volumes,’ 1801; 2nd ed. 1803. Dedicated to Thomas Hill. This story showed the possession of much vivacity and humour. 6. ‘The Decameron, with remarks on the Life and Writings of Boccaccio, and an Advertisement by the Author of “Old Nick,”’ 1804. The translation, which was suggested by Thomas Hill, was a revision of that issued anonymously in 1741, and the task of supervision was entrusted to Dubois. 7. ‘Rhymes’ [anon. by Octavius Gilchrist of Stamford, and edited by Dubois], 1805. 8. ‘Poetical Translations of the Works of Horace, by Philip Francis. New Edition, with Additional Notes, by Edward Du Bois,’ 4 vols., 1807. The booksellers required the immediate publication of a corrected ‘copy of the most approved edition of Dr. Francis's Horace,’ and Dubois was aided in his undertaking by Capel Lofft, Stephen Weston, and Sir Philip Francis, the last of whom furnished three ingenious notes. 9. When the travels of Sir John Carr were attracting attention, Dubois undertook, at the instance of the publishers of the ‘Monthly Mirror,’ to write a satirical pamphlet in ridicule of the knight's efforts in literature. It was called ‘My Pocket-book, or Hints for a “Ryghte merrie and conceitede tour, in quarto; to be called, ‘The Stranger in Ireland,’ in 1805. By a Knight Errant,”’ 1807. This satire quickly passed through two editions, and was followed by ‘Old Nick's Pocket-book,’ 1808, written in ridicule of Dubois, by a friend of Carr, who was stung by these strokes of satire into bringing an action against Hood and Sharpe, in vindication of his literary character. The case came before Lord Ellenborough and a special jury, at Guildhall, 1 Aug. 1808, when the judge summed up strongly in favour of the defendants, and the verdict was given for them. Two reports of the trial were issued, one on behalf of the plaintiff and the other in the interest of the defendants, and the latter report was also appended to a third edition of ‘My Pocket-book.’ 10. ‘The Rising Sun.’ 11. ‘The Tarantula, or the Dance of Fools; by the Author of “The Rising Sun,”’ 1809. An overcharged satire on fashionable life in 1809, which is sometimes, but probably without sufficient reason, attributed to Dubois. 12. ‘Facetiæ, Musarum Deliciæ, or the Muses' Recreation, by Sir J. M. [Mennis] and Ja. S. [James Smith] … with Memoirs [by Dubois] of Sir John Mennis and Dr. James Smith,’ 1817, 2 vols. He also edited Harris's ‘Hermes’ (6th edit. 1806); ‘Fitzosborne's Letters,’ by Melmoth (11th edit. 1805); ‘Burton's Anatomy’ (1821); ‘Hayley's Ballads,’ with plates by William Blake (1805); and ‘Ossian's Poems’ (1806).

[Life of Sir P. Francis, by Parkes and Merivale, i. xxiii, 327, ii. 384–5; Collier's Old Man's Diary, pt. iv. p. 23; Maclise's Portrait Gallery, p. 265; Literary Gazette, 1850, pp. 52–3; Halkett and Laing's Anonymous Lit. iii. 1911, 2207, 2250; New Monthly Mag. lxxxi. 83–4 (1847); Gent. Mag. xxxiii. 326–7 (1850); information from his son, Mr. Theodore Dubois.]  DU BOIS, SIMON (d. 1708), painter, was the youngest son of Hendrick Du Bois, and Helena Leonora Sieveri, his wife. He is stated to have been born at Antwerp, but it appears that in 1643 Hendrick Du Bois was a resident in Rotterdam, where he died in 1647, being described as a painter and dealer in works of art; so that it is doubtful whether Du Bois was of Flemish or Dutch origin. He seems to have visited Italy with his brother Edward, and commenced his career as a painter of small battle-pieces in the Italian fashion; but subsequently he received instruction from Wouvermans, and took to painting horses and cattle pictures. He gained a great reputation for his works in this style, and so nearly approached the manner of the great masters then in vogue, that he was able to sell many of his pictures as their works, excusing himself on the ground that, if he put his own name to them, their merit would never be recognised. He had a curious neat way of finishing his figures, which he also employed in portrait-painting; according to Vertue he was induced to turn his hand to this by the advice of a lady friend. He came to England in 1685, and was fortunate in securing the patronage and friendship of Lord-chancellor Somers, who sat to him for his portrait and paid him liberally. James Elsum [q. v.] wrote an epigram on this