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Abraham John Valpy (1786 – 19 November 1854) was anEnglish printer and publisher.
He was the son of theReading schoolmasterRichard Valpy and was born in that town.
He is remembered in connection with two great undertakings in the department ofclassical literature. These were reissues of (1)Stephanus'Greek Thesaurus, for whichE. H. Barker was chiefly responsible; and (2) Valpy's Delphin Classics,[1] a book series of 143 volumes with text drawn from the 18th century FrenchDelphin Classics (Ad usum Delphini) series and with variorum notes, under the editorial superintendence ofGeorge Dyer.
He also founded theClassical Journal in 1810[2] and published the periodicalThe Museum in the years 1822–1825.[3]
In the years 1813–1828 he published The Pamphleteer, a book series described as being "a collection of the best pamphlets of the day" and which included contributions fromWilliam Wilberforce,Jeremy Bentham,George Canning,William Huskisson andStamford Raffles.[4]
He also published the Family Classical Library: English Translations of Greek and Latin Classics (52 volumes, 1830–1834)[5] and an edition of the plays and poems of Shakespeare (15 Volumes, 1832–1834).
In 1813 Abraham Valpy married Harriet Teast (nee Wylde) (1788–1864). His younger brother,William Henry Valpy, migrated toNew Zealand where he became a prominent settler in theDunedin area. William's wifeCaroline Valpy and daughtersEllen Jeffreys (née Valpy) andJuliet Valpy achieved a reputation as talented artists in that country.[6] Another daughter,Arabella Valpy, was instrumental in bringing theSalvation Army to New Zealand and yet another daughter,Catherine Fulton née Valpy, was a New Zealand suffragist. The Dunedin suburbs ofCaversham andForbury were named by William in honour of his Reading roots.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Valpy, Richard, s.v.".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 866.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Courtney, William Prideaux (1899). "Valpy, Abraham John".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 58. pp. 84–85.
