Samuel Bentley (1785–1868) was an English printer and antiquarian.

Life

The second son of Edward Bentley and his wife Anne Nichols, sister of John Nichols, he was born 10 May 1785;

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenis ...

the publisher was a younger brother. He was educated at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

, and after an apprenticeship with Nichols was taken into partnership. In 1819 Bentley went into partnership with his brother Richard, in Dorset Street, Salisbury Square; and on the latter taking over the business of Colburn, he established the firm of Samuel and John Bentley, Wilson, & Fley, at Bangor House, Shoe Lane, John being his nephew. He visited the type-foundry of Firmin Didot in Paris. With failing eyesight, Bentley gave up his business in 1853. He retired to

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, with his wife whom he had married in 1825.

Works

Bentley's major antiquarian work was the ''Excerpta Historica'' (1831), with which he had the assistance of Harris Nicolas, Sir Charles Young, Duffus Hardy, and others. He indexed the ''Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century'' by Nichols, and the ''History of Durham'', by Robert Surtees. Other works were: * ''Concio de Puero Jesu'' (editor, 1816), written by

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

at the request of John Colet. This edition is dedicated to John Sleath. * ''An Abstract of Charters and other Documents contained in a Cartulary of the Abbey of St. Peter, Westminster, in the possession of S. B.'' (1836, for private circulation). Bentley assisted Nicolas in preparing for publication the ''Scrope and Grosvenor Roll'', which he read in manuscript in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Samuel 1785 births 1868 deaths English printers English book editors English antiquarians People educated at St Paul's School, London 19th-century English businesspeople