Значение слова SPENCE в Литературной энциклопедии

JOSEPH (1699-1768).-Anecdotist, _b._ at Kingsclere, Hants, and _ed._ at Winchester and Oxf., he entered the Church, and held various preferments, including a prebend at Durham, and was Prof. of Poetry at Oxf. He wrote an _Essay on Pope's Odyssey_, which gained for him the friendship of the poet, of whose conversation he made notes, collecting likewise anecdotes of him and of other celebrities which were _pub._ in 1820, and are of great value, inasmuch as they preserve much matter illustrative of the literary history of the 18th century which would otherwise have been lost.