John Small (1828 – 20 August 1886) was

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

Edinburgh University Library Edinburgh University Library is the main library of the University of Edinburgh and one of the most important libraries of Scotland. The University Library was moved in 1827 to William Playfair's Upper Library in the Old College building. The ...

. He was a member of the Smalls of

Dirnanean Dirnanean House is part of a private, traditional Highland estate located near Enochdhu in Moulin parish, Blairgowrie and Rattray, Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, 10 miles ENE of Pitlochry. The Dirnanean estate is situated adjacent to ...

Life

Small was born in 1828 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

to Margaret (née Brown) and John Small. He was educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

where he graduated with an MA in 1847. In the same year he succeeded his father, who was acting librarian of the university library until his death. In 1854 he obtained the full status of a librarian, with an official residence. He held the office, also in succession to his father, of acting librarian to the College of Physicians (Edinburgh), for which he prepared a catalogue in 1863. He also served for many years as an assistant clerk to the

Senatus Academicus An academic senate, sometimes termed faculty senate, academic board or simply senate, is a governing body in some universities and colleges, typically with responsibility for academic matters and primarily drawing its membership from the academic ...

and editor of the ''University Calendar.'' He was president of the

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in 1880, and on 21 April 1886 the University of Edinburgh awarded him a LLD. He was for some time treasurer of the university musical society. Small devoted his leisure time to literary work. His first larger publication was a volume, ''English Metrical Homilies … Edited, with an Introduction and Notes,'' Edinburgh, 1862. He was the chief associate of Cosmo Innes in editing the ''Journal of Andrew Halyburton,'' published in 1867. Thereafter his chief labour was expended on editing, with careful glossaries and indices, the works of early Scottish poets, viz. ''The Poetical Works of

Gavin Douglas Gavin Douglas (c. 1474 – September 1522) was a Scottish bishop, makar and translator. Although he had an important political career, he is chiefly remembered for his poetry. His main pioneering achievement was the '' Eneados'', a full and fa ...

,'' 4 vols. Edinburgh, 1874; Sir David Lyndesay's ''Monarchie'' for the

Early English Text Society The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...

(1865–6), and ''The Poems of

William Dunbar William Dunbar (1459 or 1460 – by 1530) was a Scottish makar, or court poet, active in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He was closely associated with the court of King James IV and produced a large body of work in Scots d ...

'' for the Scottish Text Society (1884–1892). In 1885 he re-edited David Laing's '' Remains of Early Scottish Poetry,'' prefixing a bibliographical notice of his predecessor. To the '' British and Foreign Evangelical Review'' he sent an elaborate article on the authorship of the '' Ode to the Cuckoo'', and he contributed numerous papers to the ''Transactions'' of the

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and the Society of Antiquaries. He also gave assistance to Sir Alexander Grant in writing the ''History of Edinburgh University'' (1884). Small's brother-in-law was William Purdie Dickson, (1823-1901), a Scottish Professor of Divinity at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

from 1873 to 1895. The William Dickson Prize is named in his honor. Small's nephew was Andrew Munro, (1869-1935), a Scottish fellow, lecturer in mathematics and bursar at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

from 1893 to 1935. The Munro scholarships and studentships at Queens' College, Cambridge are named in his honor. After a long illness John Small died unmarried in Edinburgh on 20 August 1886, and was buried in the

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hi ...

in Edinburgh. In 1924, the estate of John Small's sister, Jemima, left £5,000 to establish a fund in the name of both her father and her brother for the purchase of books and to subsidize general purpose expenses within the library.

Works

Besides the works mentioned above, Small wrote: * ''Some Account of the Original Protest of the Bohemian Nobles,'' 4to, Edinburgh, 1861. * ''Historical Sketch of the Library of the Royal College of Physicians,'' 4to, Edinburgh, 1863. * ''Biographical Sketch of Dr. Adam Fergusson,'' 4to, Edinburgh, 1864. * ''Biographical Sketch of Patrick Fraser Tytler,'' 8vo, Edinburgh, 1864. * ''A Hundred Wonders of the World in Nature and Art,'' 8vo, Edinburgh, 1876. * ''On Serfdom in Scotland,'' 4to, Edinburgh, 1878. * ''The Castles and Mansions of the Lothians,'' 2 vols. Edinburgh, 4to, 1878. * ''Queen Mary at Jedburgh in 1566 …'' 4to, Edinburgh, 1881. Small edited the following works: * ''The Indian Primer,'' by John Eliot, 12mo, Edinburgh, 1878 * ''The Image of Ireland,'' by John Derricke, 4to, Edinburgh, 1883 * ''A Description of the Isles of Orkney,'' by James Wallace, Edinburgh, 1883

References

External links

*
John Small and Son, University of Edinburgh Portrait

;Attribution: {{DEFAULTSORT:Small, John 1828 births 1886 deaths Scottish librarians People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish poets