'Concerning the Surrender of Dunkirk, that it was done upon good grounds,' London, 1664.
To philology and lexicography Howell contributed 'Lexicon Tetraglotton, or an English-French-Italian-Spanish Dictionary,' London, 1659-60, fol., with 'A Particular Vocabulary' in the four languages of technical terms, and an appendix (published separately in 1659) of 'Proverbs or old Sayed Saws and Adages in English or the Saxon tongue, Italian, French, and Spanish: whereunto the British [i.e. Welsh] for their great antiquity and weight are added.' Worthington, writing in his 'Diary' (Chetham Soc. i. 350) in August 1661, recommended the separate republication of the appendix, and especially of the collection of Welsh proverbs. Howell revised and expanded Cotgrave's `French and English Dictionary,' 1650, fol. (other editions 1660 and 1673), and wrote 'New English Grammar … for Foreigners to learn English …, with `Another Grammar of the Spanish or Castilian toung, with some special remarks in the Portugues dialect,' and notes on travel in Spain and Portugal `for the service of Her Majesty' (in both English and Spanish [printed on opposite pages), 1662. After Howell's death appeared 'A French Grammar, a Dialogue consisting of all Gallicisms, with Additions of … Proverbs,' 1673.
His translations include `St. Paul's late Progress upon Earth,' 1644, from the Italian; 'A Venetian Looking-glass … touching the present Distempers in England,' 1648, from the Italian; `An exact History of the late Revolutions in Naples,' 1650, from the Italian of Alexandro Giraffi; `The Process and Pleadings in the Court of Spain upon the death of Antony Ascham,' from the Spanish, 1651; Josephus's `History of the Jews,' 1652; `The Nuptials of Peleus and Thetis,' 1654, from the French; `Paracelsus, his Aurora. … As also the Water-Stone of the Wise Men,' 1659; Basil Valentine's `Triumphant Chariot of Antimony,' 1661; Paracelsus's 'Archidoxis,' 1661.
He edited Cotton's 'Posthuma,' 1657, with a dedication to Sir Robert Pye [see Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce]; 'Finetti Philoxenis,' 1656 [see Finet, Sir John]; ' Parthenopœia, or the History of … Naples,' 1654, pt. i. translated from the Italian of Mazella by Sampson Lennard, and pt. ii. compiled by Howell from various Italian writers.
Commendatory verses or letters by Howell are prefixed to Hayward's `Eromena,' 1632; Cartwright's `Poems,' 1651; and other books of the time. Many such poetic pieces are collected in Howell's 'Poems.' Howell, rather than John Hewit, is the I. H. who prefixed verses to the Εἱκὼν Βασιλική.
A fine portrait of Howell leaning against a tree, engraved by Claude Melan or Mellan and Abraham Bosse, was first prefixed to the French translation of his 'Dodona's Grove,' 1641. It reappeared in his 'England's Teares,' 1644, his 'German Diet,' 1653, his `Londinopolis,' 1657, and his ' Proverbs,' 1659, and it is inserted in many other of his books in the British Museum Library. An oil painting, probably made from the engraving, belongs to the Rev. H. Howell of Blaina. A small vignette by Marshall forms one of the nine compartments of the plate prefixed to the 'Letters,' 1645.
[Notes kindly sent by C. E. Doble, esq., and C. H. Firth, esq.; Wood's Athenæ Oxon. ed. Bliss, iii. 744-52; Biog. Brit ; Lowndes's Bibl. Man. ed. Bohn; Epistolæ Ho-el. ed. Jacobs, 1890-1; Strafford Letters; Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 24492, p.372 (Hunter's Chorus Vatum); pedigree lent by J. Bagnall Evans, esq.; curious expressions and allusions in the Letters are discussed in Notes and Queries, 3rd and 5th ser.]
HOWELL, JOHN (1774–1830), called Ioan ab Hywel, soldier and Welsh poet, was born in 1774 at Abergwilly, Carmarthenshire, where he received very little schooling.
He was apprenticed to a weaver, but soon joined the Carmarthenshire militia, where
he was employed in the band as fife-major. He served with his regiment in Ireland in 1799, and rejoined it on re-embodiment in
1803. He employed his leisure in improving his education, and was discharged as regimental schoolmaster on 24 July 1815, while the regiment was at Bristol. He then became master of the national school at Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, where he resided, with few intermissions, until his death. There he produced numerous compositions, which
he sent to various bardic contests. In 1824
he brought out at Caerfyrddin by subscription
a small volume entitled `Blodau Dyfed' (pp.
xvi, 420), containing selections from the compositions of bards of the district in the past and present century, including some productions
of his own, among which is a 'Carmarthen
March.' He possessed some talent as a musician and teacher of psalmody. His Welsh
poems had not much fire or subtle imagery,
but were considered models of metric correctness and appropriate diction. He died on 18 Nov. 1830 at Llandovery, and was buried
beside the porch of Llandingat Church.
[ Williams's Eminent Welshmen; Blodau Dyfed (Carmarthen, 1824, 12mo); Rolls of the Royal Carmarthen Fusiliers Militia in Public Record Office, London.]
HOWELL, JOHN (1788–1863), polyartist, born at Old Lauriston, Edinburgh, in 1788, was apprenticed to a bookbinder, but
