Editing Henry Aldrich (section)

==Works==
[[File:Henry Aldrich - Give ear, O Lord - British Library - Add MS 30931 f161r.jpg|thumb|A folio from ''Give ear, O Lord'' by Aldrich, written in his own hand.]]
Henry Aldrich was a man of unusually varied gifts. A [[classical scholar]] of fair merits, he is best known as the author of a little book on [[logic]]{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} (''Artis Logicæ Compendium''<ref name="a_l_c">{{cite book| last=Aldrich | first=Henry | title=Artis logicæ compendium | year=1750 | publisher=[[Oxford University]] | pages=147 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxoFAAAAQAAJ | access-date=22 July 2011 }}</ref>). Although not innovative in the field of Logic itself (it closely follows [[Peter of Spain (author)|Peter of Spain]]'s ''Summulae Logicales''), its insistent use by generations of Oxford students has shown it to be of great synthetic and didactic value: the Compendium continued to be read at Oxford (in [[Henry Longueville Mansel|Mansel]]'s revised edition) until long past the middle of the 19th century.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Aldrich also composed a number of anthems and church services of high merit, and adapted much of the music of [[Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina|Palestrina]] and [[Giacomo Carissimi|Carissimi]] to English words with great skill and judgment. To him we owe the well-known catch, "Hark, the bonny Christ Church bells."{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

[[Image:All Saints Church Oxford (1).jpg|thumb|upright|[[All Saints Church, Oxford|All Saints Church]] on the north side of the [[High Street, Oxford|High Street]], designed by Henry Aldrich and completed in 1720.]]
[[File:Oxford's Christ Church Cathedral, memorial (31) - geograph.org.uk - 2352885.jpg|thumb|Oxford's Christ Church Cathedral, memorial to Henry Aldrich]]
[[Image:Christ Church (Oxford).jpg|thumb|[[Peckwater Quadrangle]] of Christ Church, Oxford, designed by Henry Aldrich.]]
Evidence of his skill as an architect may be seen in the church and [[campanile]] of [[All Saints Church, Oxford]], and in three sides of the so-called [[Peckwater Quadrangle]] of Christ Church, which were erected after his designs. He bore a great reputation for conviviality', and wrote a humorous [[Latin]] version of the popular ballad ''A soldier and a sailor, A tinker and a tailor'', etc.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Another specimen of his wit is furnished by the following epigram of the five reasons for drinking:{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

:If on my theme I rightly think,
:There are five reasons why men drink:—
:Good wine; a friend; because I'm dry;
:Or lest I should be by and by;
:Or — any other reason why.

This epigram is a translation of the following Latin dictum attributed by the [[Gilles Ménage|Menagiana]] to [[Jacques Sirmond]]:

:''Si bene quid memini, causae sunt quinque bibendi;''
:''Hospitis adventus, praesens sitis atque futura,''
:''Aut vini bonitas, aut quaelibet altera causa.''
Aldrich had a large personal library of ca. 3000 books, 8000 pieces of music, and 2000 engravings which he bequeathed to Christ Church upon his death. His engravings constitute one of the earliest surviving English collections in this field. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Aldrich 1648-1710 - Book Owners Online |url=https://www.bookowners.online/Henry_Aldrich_1648-1710 |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=www.bookowners.online |language=en-GB}}</ref>