William Smith | |
|---|---|
 Sir William Smith in 1893 | |
| Born | 20 May 1813 |
| Died | 7 October 1893 (aged 80) |
| Resting place | Highgate Cemetery |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Lexicographer and editor |
| Works | |
Sir William Smith (20 May 1813 – 7 October 1893) [1] [2] was an English lexicographer. He became known for his advances in the teaching of Greek and Latin in schools.
Smith was born in Enfield in 1813 to Nonconformist parents. He attended the Madras House school of John Allen in Hackney. [3] Originally destined for a theological career, he instead became articled to a solicitor. Meanwhile, he taught himself classics in his spare time, and when he entered University College London carried off both the Greek and Latin prizes. He was entered at Gray's Inn in 1830, but gave up his legal studies for a post at University College School and began to write on classical subjects. [4]
Smith next turned his attention to lexicography. His first attempt was A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities , which appeared in 1842, the greater part being written by him. Then followed the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology in 1849. A parallel Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography [5] appeared in 1857, with some leading scholars of the day associated with the task. [6]
In 1867, Smith became editor of the Quarterly Review , a post he held until his death. [6]
Smith published the first of several school dictionaries in 1850, and in 1853 began the Principia series, which marked an advance in the school teaching of Greek and Latin. Then came the Student's Manuals of History and Literature, of which the English literature volume went into 13 editions. [7] He himself wrote the Greek history volume. [6]
He was joined in the venture by the publisher John Murray when the original publishing partner met difficulties. Murray was the publisher of the 1214-page Latin–English Dictionary based upon the works of Forcellini and Freund that Smith completed in 1855. This was periodically reissued over the next 35 years. It goes beyond "classical" (100 BCE – 100 CE) Latin to include many entries not found in other dictionaries of the period, including Lewis and Short. [8]
Perhaps the foremost books Smith edited covered ecclesiastical subjects: the Dictionary of the Bible (1860–1865), the Dictionary of Christian Antiquities (1875–1880), jointly with Archdeacon Samuel Cheetham, and the Dictionary of Christian Biography (1877–1887), jointly with Henry Wace. [6]
The Atlas, [9] on which Sir George Grove collaborated, appeared in 1875. [10] From 1853 to 1869 Smith was classical examiner to the University of London, and on retirement he became a member of the Senate. He sat on the Committee enquiring into questions of copyright and was for several years registrar of the Royal Literary Fund. He edited Gibbon, with Guizot's and Milman's notes, in 1854–1855. [6] [11]
Smith was named a DCL by the University of Oxford and the University of Dublin. A knighthood was conferred on him in 1892. He died on 7 October 1893 in London, [12] and is buried in a family grave on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery
In Greek mythology, Aeolus or Aiolos is a name shared by three mythical characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which. Diodorus Siculus made an attempt to define each of these three, and his opinion is followed here.
Lucius Accius, or Lucius Attius, was a Roman tragic poet and literary scholar. Accius was born in 170 BC at Pisaurum, a town founded in the Ager Gallicus in 184 BC. He was the son of a freedman and a freedwoman, probably from Rome.
Aegle is the name of several different figures in Greek mythology:
In Greek mythology, Abderus or Abderos was a divine hero, reputed by some to be one of Heracles' lovers (eromenoi), and reputedly a son of Hermes by some accounts, and eponym of Abdera, Thrace.
Hermanubis is a Graeco-Egyptian god who conducts the souls of the dead to the underworld. He is a syncretism of Hermes from Greek mythology and Anubis from Egyptian mythology.
Dictys Cretensis, i.e. Dictys of Crete of Knossos was a legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary of its events, that deployed some of the same materials worked up by Homer for the Iliad. The story of his journal, an amusing fiction addressed to a knowledgeable Alexandrian audience, came to be taken literally during Late Antiquity.
Charles Anthon was an American classical scholar. Anthon was a professor at Columbia College and became headmaster of its grammar and preparatory school. He produced classical works for schools, which contained assistance and translations in the notes. He had a disagreement with Martin Harris over an account where they discussed the authenticity of the Anthon Transcript of the Book of Mormon. Anthon was also an acquaintance of writer Edgar Allan Poe. He died in New York City at the age of 69.
Samuel Prideaux Tregelles was an English biblical scholar, lexicographer, Christian Hebraist, textual critic, and theologian.
William Watkiss Lloyd was an English writer with wide interests. These included fine art, architecture, archaeology, Shakespeare, and classical and modern languages and literature.
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities is an English language encyclopedia first published in 1842. The second, improved and enlarged, edition appeared in 1848, and there were many revised editions up to 1890. The encyclopedia covered law, religion, architecture, warfare, daily life, and similar subjects primarily from the standpoint of a classicist. It was one of a series of reference works on classical antiquity by William Smith, the others cover persons and places. It runs to well over a million words in any edition, and all editions are now in the public domain.
In Greek mythology, Linus may refer to the following personages:
The Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 pages. It is a classic work of 19th-century lexicography. The work is a companion to Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities and Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.
The Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography is the last in a series of classical dictionaries edited by the English scholar William Smith (1813–1893), following A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities and the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. It was first published in 1854 and last reissued in 2005.
Agonius or Enagonius was an epithet of several gods in Greek mythology. Aeschylus and Sophocles use it of Apollo and Zeus, and apparently in the sense of helpers in struggles and contests, or possibly as the protectors of soldiers. But Agonius is more especially used as an epithet of Hermes, who presides over all kinds of solemn contests (ἀγῶνες), such as the Agonalia. Classical scholar William Warde Fowler thought it likely the deity or the epithets were merely inventions of the pontifices.
Alexander Allen was an English writer and linguist who specialised in studies of Greece.
John Jones LL.D. was a Welsh Unitarian minister, critic, tutor and lexicographer.
Pegasides were nymphs of Greek mythology connected with wells and springs, specifically those that the mythical horse Pegasus created by striking the ground with his hooves.
In Greek mythology, Aganippe was the name of both a spring and the Naiad associated with it. The spring is in Boeotia, near Thespiae, at the base of Mount Helicon, and was associated with the Muses who were sometimes called Aganippides. Drinking from her well, it was considered to be a source of poetic inspiration. The nymph is called a daughter of the river-god Permessus. Ovid associates Aganippe with Hippocrene.
Augustus Samuel Wilkins (1843–1905) was an English classical scholar. He held a professorship of Latin in Manchester for 34 years.
Bunnell Lewis was an English archaeologist, for many years an academic at Queen's College, Cork, Ireland.
"Smith, Sir William", A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature , 1910 – via Wikisource 