John Russell Smith
John Russell Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1810 Sevenoaks, Kent, England |
| Died | 1894-10-19 Kentish Town, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Bookseller, bibliographer |
| Years active | 1830s–c.1884 |
| Known for | Library of Old Authors reprint series |
John Russell Smith (1810 – 19 October 1894) was a distinguished English bookseller and bibliographer, renowned chiefly for his reprint series titled "Library of Old Authors."
Life
Originating from Sevenoaks, Kent, Smith began his career apprenticed to John Bryant in Wardour Street, London. He subsequently established a bookstore at 4 Old Compton Street, Soho, focusing on English topography and philology. Among his prominent patrons was the collector John Sheepshanks.
In 1842, after a division within the Archæological Association, several members including Thomas Wright, Mark Anthony Lower, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, and Arthur Henfrey redirected their publications to Smith. This expansion led him to relocate his business to 36 Soho Square.
Around 1884, Smith retired, disposing of his inventory and rights; the "Library of Old Authors" series was acquired by bookseller William Reeves, while Jonathan Nield obtained his collection of engravings. Smith passed away on 19 October 1894 in Kentish Town at the age of 84.
Works and publications
In 1837, Smith released Bibliotheca Cantiana, an organized bibliographical record detailing the history and antiquities of Kent, with two annotated copies later donated to the British Museum. His 1839 publications featured a county-arranged Bibliographical List of the Works that have been published towards illustrating the Provincial Dialects of England alongside Westmoreland and Cumberland Dialects.
He issued significant editions such as Robert Nares' Glossary (edited by Wright and Halliwell-Phillipps), William Barnes' Dialect Poems and Grammar, Edward Johnston Vernon's Guide to the Anglo-Saxon Tongue, and a condensed version of Joseph Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. The "Library of Old Authors," primarily comprising reprints of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature produced by the Chiswick Press, was published between 1856 and 1875.
Smith also compiled specialized secondhand book catalogues covering areas like topographical prints and pre-1700 books (1849); Shakesperiana (1864); Americana (1865); a collection of 26,000 tracts (1874); and engraved portraits (1883). Additionally, he contributed a bibliographical listing of English angling authors to Robert Blakey's Historical Sketches of Angling Literature (1855), with some editions separately issued as Bibliographical Catalogue of English Writers on Angling and Ichthyology (1856).
Family
In 1844, Smith married Frances Caigou, daughter of printer James Daniel Caigou. The couple had two children: a son and a daughter.
External links
- Attribution