Sir William Smith | |
|---|---|
 Sir William Smith in 1893 | |
| Born | (1813-05-20)20 May 1813 |
| Died | 7 October 1893(1893-10-07) (aged 80) London, England |
| Resting place | Highgate Cemetery |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Lexicographer andeditor |
| Works | |
Sir William Smith (20 May 1813 – 7 October 1893)[1][2] was an Englishlexicographer. He became known for his advances in the teaching of Greek and Latin in schools.
Smith was born inEnfield in 1813 toNonconformist parents. He attended the Madras House school ofJohn Allen in Hackney.[3] Originally destined for a theological career, he instead becamearticled to a solicitor. Meanwhile, he taught himselfclassics in his spare time, and when he enteredUniversity College London carried off both the Greek and Latin prizes. He was entered atGray's Inn in 1830, but gave up his legal studies for a post atUniversity College School and began to write on classical subjects.[4]
Smith next turned his attention tolexicography. His first attempt wasA Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, which appeared in 1842, the greater part being written by him. Then followed theDictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology in 1849. A parallelDictionary of Greek and Roman Geography[5] appeared in 1854, with some leading scholars of the day associated with the task.[6]
In 1867, Smith became editor of theQuarterly Review, a post he held until his death.[6]
Smith published the first of several school dictionaries in 1850, and in 1853 began thePrincipia series, which marked an advance in the school teaching of Greek and Latin. Then came theStudent's Manuals of History and Literature, of which the English literature volume went into 13 editions.[7] He himself wrote the Greek history volume.[6]
He was joined in the venture by the publisherJohn Murray when the original publishing partner met difficulties. Murray was the publisher of the 1214-pageLatin–English Dictionary based upon the works of Forcellini and Freund that Smith completed in 1855. This was periodically reissued over the next 35 years. It goes beyond "classical" (100 BCE – 100 CE) Latin to include many entries not found in other dictionaries of the period, includingLewis and Short.[8]
Perhaps the foremost books Smith edited covered ecclesiastical subjects: theDictionary of the Bible (1860–1865), theDictionary of Christian Antiquities (1875–1880), jointly with ArchdeaconSamuel Cheetham, and theDictionary of Christian Biography (1877–1887), jointly withHenry Wace.[6]
The Atlas,[9] on which SirGeorge Grove collaborated, appeared in 1875.[10] From 1853 to 1869 Smith was classical examiner to theUniversity of London, and on retirement he became a member of the Senate. He sat on the Committee enquiring into questions of copyright and was for several years registrar of theRoyal Literary Fund. He editedGibbon, withGuizot's andMilman's notes, in 1854–1855.[6][11]
Smith was named aDCL by theUniversity of Oxford andTrinity College Dublin. A knighthood was conferred on him in 1892. He died on 7 October 1893 in London,[12] and is buried in a family grave on the eastern side ofHighgate Cemetery.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Smith, Sir William".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 270–271.
"Smith, Sir William",A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910 – viaWikisource