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

The most important, perhaps, of the books edited by

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

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