Thomas Byerley (1789–1826), also known by the pseudonyms ofReuben Percy andStephen Collet, was an English journalist and compiler of thePercy Anecdotes.
He was born inBrompton,North Yorkshire, England in 1789 and was the brother of Sir John Byerley.[1] Becoming a writer, he was editor of theLiterary Chronicle, and assistant editor ofThe Star newspaper. He was also editor ofThe Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, from 1823 until his death, on 28 July 1826.[2]
Under the pseudonym of Stephen Collet, Byerley publishedRelics of Literature, London, 1823, 8vo, a collection of miscellanies, including a long article, reprinted in 1875, ongraphology. He is best known forThe Percy Anecdotes, 20 vols., London, 1821–3, 12mo. These volumes, which came out in forty-four monthly parts, were supposedly written by "Sholto and Reuben Percy, brothers of the Benedictine monastery of Mount Benger". Reuben Percy was Byerley, and Sholto Percy wasJoseph Clinton Robertson. The name of the collection was taken from the Percy coffee-house in Rathbone Place inFitzrovia, where Byerley and Robertson used to meet. TheAnecdotes were reprinted in 2 vols. in theChandos Library with a preface byJohn Timbs. The "Brothers Percy" also compiledLondon, or Interesting Memorials of its Rise, Progress, and Present State, 3 vols., London, 1823.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Cooper, Thompson (1886). "Byerley, Thomas". InStephen, Leslie (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 08. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
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