Edwin Abbott (12 May 1808 – 27 May 1882) was an English educator. Abbott was born in London in 1808, the son of Edward Abbott, an oilman and Italian warehouseman descended from George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury. In 1827 he was made headmaster of the Philological School of General Instruction,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, the school he had himself attended. As a headmaster he was known as firm but humane.James M. Borg
‘Abbott, Edwin (1808–1882)’
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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007, accessed 30 Oct 2008 He married his first cousin Jane Abbott (1806–1882) in 1831. The couple had eight children, including

Edwin Abbott Abbott Edwin Abbott Abbott (20 December 1838 – 12 October 1926) was an English schoolmaster, theology, theologian, and Anglican priest, best known as the author of the novella ''Flatland'' (1884). Early life and education Edwin Abbott Abbott ...

, author of ''

Flatland ''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions'' is a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott, first published in 1884 by Seeley & Co. of London. Written pseudonymously by "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dime ...

''; a daughter, Elizabeth, married John Humffreys Parry. Abbott's social concern led him to keep up contact with the

Christian Socialists Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capitalism to be idolatr ...

. He translated the third volume of J. H. Merle D'Aubigné's history of the reformation, wrote textbooks on

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

English grammar English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, Sentence (linguistics), sentences, and whole texts. Overview This article describes a generalized, present-day Standar ...

and

arithmetic Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that deals with numerical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a wider sense, it also includes exponentiation, extraction of roots, and taking logarithms. ...

, and published a concordance to

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

. Abbott retired as headmaster in 1872, and died at

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Lambeth, Lambeth and London Borough of Southwark, Southwark. It is north ...

in 1882. The school was renamed

St Marylebone Grammar School St Marylebone Grammar School (SMGS) was a grammar school located in the London borough of the City of Westminster. It was open from 1792 to 1981. History Philological School Founded as the Philological Society by Thomas Collingwood, under the ...

in 1901, and one of the four senior houses was named after Abbott.

Works

*(tr.) ''History of the Great Reformation'', by J. H. Merle D'Aubigné, vol. 3, 1841 *''Handbook of Arithmetic and First Steps in Algebra'' *''A Handbook of English Grammar'', 1845 *''A Second Latin Book'', 1858 *''A concordance to the works of Alexander Pope'', 1875

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Edwin 1808 births 1882 deaths Heads of schools in London French–English translators 19th-century English translators 19th-century English educators