page_title: William Young Sellar
section_title: Life
hierarchical_section_title: William Young Sellar / Life
caption_attribution_description: English: Buckingham Terrace
context_page_description: Prof William Young Sellar FRSE LLD was a Scottish classical scholar.
context_section_description: Sellar was born at Morvich in Sutherland the son of Patrick Sellar of Westfield, Morayshire and his wife Anne Craig of Barmakelty, Moray. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy 1832 to 1839 (dux in his final year) and afterwards studied Classics at the University of Glasgow. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, as a scholar. Graduating with a first-class in classics, he was elected fellow of Oriel, and, after holding assistant professorships at Durham, Glasgow and St Andrews, was appointed professor of Greek at St Andrews (1857). In 1863 he was elected professor of humanity in Edinburgh University, and occupied that chair till his death.
  In Edinburgh he lived at 15 Buckingham Terrace in the West End, near Dean Bridge.
  Sellar was one of the most brilliant of 19th century classical scholars, and was remarkably successful in his endeavours to reproduce the spirit rather than the letter of Roman literature.
  In 1864 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being Alexander Campbell Fraser. He was also awarded honorary doctorates (LLD) from both St Andrews University and Dublin University.
  He died at Kenbank, St John's Town of Dalry in Kirkcudbrightshire on 12 October 1890.
caption: Buckingham Terrace, Edinburgh
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