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William Smellie (encyclopedist)

William Smellie
FRSE, FSA (Scot)
William Smellie00.jpg
William Smellie, by Henry Bryan Hall
Born 1740
The Pleasance, Edinburgh
Died 24 June 1795
Edinburgh
Resting place Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh
55°56′48″N 3°11′32″W / 55.94667°N 3.19222°W / 55.94667; -3.19222
Residence Edinburgh
Nationality Scottish
Education Duddingston parish school
High School, Edinburgh
Alma mater Edinburgh University
Occupation Printer, editor, naturalist, antiquary
Employer

Apprentice, Hamilton, Balfour & Neil, printers, 1752
Substitute Lecturer, Botany, Edinburgh University
Founded Balfour & Smellie, Printers,

Edinburgh, 1765
Edited 1st Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, 1771-
Editor, Edinburgh Magazine & Review, 1773-6
Partner with William Creech, ; 1782-
Known for Editor of the 1st Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
Spouse(s) Jean Robertson (m 1763)
Parent(s) Alexander Smellie, architect, Edinburgh
Notes
Member of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society, thereby becoming a founding fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh upon the Philosophical Society receiving its royal charter in 1783
Founder of the Newtonian Club (1760)

Apprentice, Hamilton, Balfour & Neil, printers, 1752
Substitute Lecturer, Botany, Edinburgh University
Founded Balfour & Smellie, Printers,

William Smellie FRSE FSA (Scot) (1740–1795) was a Scottish master printer, naturalist, antiquary, editor and encyclopedist. He was friends with Robert Burns, whose assessment is engraved on Smellie's tombstone: "Here lies a man who did honour to human nature". Burns also described him fondly in a letter as "that old Veteran in Genius, Wit and Bawdry".

see

He was born in The Pleasance, in south-east Edinburgh in 1740, the son of Alexander Smellie, architect, and his wife, Jean Robertson. He was apprenticed to Hamilton, Balfour & Neill in 1752. On completion of his apprenticeship he joined the firm of Murray & Cochran as a corrector for the Scots Magazine. He was allowed three hours per day to study at Edinburgh University.

On 27 March 1763 he married Jean Robertson in London.

At the age of 28, Smellie was hired by Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell to edit the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which appeared in 100 weekly instalments ("numbers") from December 1768 to 1771. It was a masterful composition although, by his own admission, Smellie borrowed liberally from many authors of his day, such as Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson. Nevertheless, the first edition of the Britannica contained gross inaccuracies and fanciful speculations; for example, it states that excess use of tobacco could cause neurodegeneration, "drying up the brain to a little black lump consisting of mere membranes". Smellie strove to make Britannica as usable as possible, saying that "utility ought to be the principal intention of every publication. Wherever this intention does not plainly appear, neither the books nor their authors have the smallest claim to the approbation of mankind". Smellie entertained strong opinions; for example, he defines farriery as "the art of curing the diseases of horses. The practice of this useful art has been hitherto almost entirely confined to a set of men who are totally ignorant of anatomy, and the general principles of medicine." Although possessed of wide knowledge, Smellie was not an expert in all matters; for example, his article on "Woman" has but four words: "the female of man." Despite its incompleteness and inaccuracies, Smellie's vivid prose and the easy navigation of the first edition led to strong demand for a second; some prurient engravings by Andrew Bell (later censored by King George III) may also have contributed to the success of the first edition. Smellie did not participate in the second edition of the Britannica, because he objected to the inclusion of biographical articles in an encyclopedia dedicated to the arts and sciences.


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