Sir William Smith (20 May 1813 – 7 October 1893) was an English
lexicographer. He became known for his advances in the teaching of Greek and Latin in schools.
Early life
Smith was born in
Enfield in 1813 to
Nonconformist parents. He attended the Madras House school of
John Allen in Hackney. Originally destined for a theological career, he instead became
articled
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
to a solicitor. Meanwhile, he taught himself
classics in his spare time, and when he entered
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
carried off both the Greek and Latin prizes. He was entered at
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...
in 1830, but gave up his legal studies for a post at
University College School and began to write on classical subjects.
Lexicography
Smith next turned his attention to
lexicography
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoreti ...
. His first attempt was ''
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' is an English language encyclopedia first published in 1842. The second, improved and enlarged, edition appeared in 1848, and there were many revised editions up to 1890. The encyclopedia covered la ...
'', which appeared in 1842, the greater part being written by him. Then followed the ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...
'' in 1849. A parallel ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' appeared in 1857, with some leading scholars of the day associated with the task.
In 1867, Smith became editor of the ''
Quarterly Review'', a post he held until his death.
Schoolbooks
Smith published the first of several school dictionaries in 1850, and in 1853 began the ''Principia'' series, which marked an advance in the school teaching of Greek and Latin. Then came the ''Student's Manuals of History and Literature'', of which the English literature volume went into 13 editions. He himself wrote the Greek history volume.
He was joined in the venture by the publisher
John Murray when the original publishing partner met difficulties. Murray was the publisher of the 1214-page ''Latin–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, including
Lewis and Short.
Perhaps the foremost books Smith edited covered ecclesiastical subjects: the
''Dictionary of the Bible'' (1860–1865), the ''Dictionary of Christian Antiquities'' (1875–1880), jointly with Archdeacon
Samuel Cheetham, and the ''Dictionary of Christian Biography'' (1877–1887), jointly with
Henry Wace.
''The Atlas'', on which Sir
George Grove collaborated, appeared in 1875. From 1853 to 1869 Smith was classical examiner to the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
, 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 the
Royal Literary Fund. He edited
Gibbon, with
Guizot's and
Milman's notes, in 1854–1855.
Honours and death
Smith was named a
DCL by the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
and the
University of Dublin. A knighthood was conferred on him in 1892. He died on 7 October 1893 in London,
and is buried in a family grave on the eastern side of
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
References
Citations
Sources
*
External links
*
*
*
''A Short History of Ancient Greece''with notes, study links and illustration by Elpenor
Online facsimile version of '' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1870 edition)Online facsimile version of ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' (1870 edition)(1875 edition)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, William
1813 births
1893 deaths
Burials at Highgate Cemetery
British lexicographers
Writers from London
Knights Bachelor
19th-century lexicographers