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SIR WILLIAM SMITH (1813-1893)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 271 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR See also:WILLIAM See also:SMITH (1813-1893)  , See also:English lexicographer, was See also:born at See also:Enfield in 1813 of See also:Nonconformist parents . He was originally destined for a theological career,. but instead was articled to a See also:solicitor . In his spare See also:time he taught bimselt See also:classics, and when he entered University See also:College he carried off both the See also:Greek and Latin prizes . He was entered at See also:Gray's See also:Inn in '83o, but gave up his legal studies for a See also:post at University College school, and began to write on classical subjects . He next turned his See also:attention to lexicography . His first See also:attempt was the See also:Dictionary of Greek and See also:Roman Antiquities, which appeared in 1842 . The greater See also:part of this was written by himself . In 1849 followed the Dictionary of Greek and Roman See also:Biography, and the Greek and Roman See also:Geography in 1857 . In this See also:work some of the leading scholars of the See also:day were associated with him . In '85o he published the first of the school dictionaries; and in 1853 he began the Principia See also:series, which marked a distinct step in the school teaching of Greek and Latin . Then came the Students' Manuals of See also:History and Literature, in which the Greek history was the editor's own work . In carrying out this task See also:Smith was most ably seconded by See also:John See also:Murray, the publisher, who, when the See also:original publishers of the dictionaries got into difficulties, volunteered to take a See also:share in the under-taking .

The most important, perhaps, of the books edited by See also:

William Smith were those that dealt with ecclesiastical subjects . These were the Dictionary of the See also:Bible (186o—1865); the Dictionary of See also:Christian Antiquities (187 188o), undertaken in collaboration with See also:Archdeacon Cheetham; and the Dictionary of Christian Biography (1877—1887), jointly with Dr See also:Henry See also:Wace . The See also:Atlas, on which See also:Sir See also:George See also:Grove collaborated, appeared in '875 . From 18J3 to 1869 Smith was classical examiner to the University of See also:London, and on his retirement he became a member of the See also:Senate . He sat on the See also:Committee to inquire into questions of See also:copyright, and was for several years registrar of the Royal See also:Literary Fund . He edited See also:Gibbon, with See also:Guizot's and See also:Milman's notes, in 18J4—1855 . In '867 he became editor of the Quarterly See also:Review, which he directed with marked success until his See also:death on the 7th of See also:October '893, his remarkable memory and accuracy, as well as his tact and See also:courtesy, specially fitting him for such a post . He was D.C.L. of See also:Oxford and See also:Dublin, and the See also:honour of See also:knighthood was conferred on him the See also:year before his death .

End of Article: SIR WILLIAM SMITH (1813-1893)
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