Samuel Weller Singer
Samuel Weller Singer (1783–1858) was an English author and scholar on the work of
Life
Born in London, he was son of Thomas Singer, a feather and artificial-flower maker, who carried on business in Princes Street, Cavendish Square. George John Singer was his younger brother. His father died when Samuel was ten years old, and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Weller, continued the feather and flower business. Samuel attended a day school kept by a Frenchwoman, and acquired facility in French. As a boy he read widely, and taught himself Italian. At an early age he was apprenticed to a hatter, but the indentures were cancelled. His mother then employed him, and about 1808 he set up for himself in the same trade in Duke Street, St. James's, though without success. He then opened a bookseller's shop in St. James's Street: collectors such as Heber, Grenville, and Francis Douce were among his customers, and Douce became a lifelong friend.
With bookselling he combined literary work. In 1815 Singer gave up his shop and began to write full-time. Leaving London, he settled first at
He had married, in 1808, Miss Harriet Robinson, by whom he was father of a son, Alfred (1816–1898), and three daughters. His library, which included many Italian books, was sold by auction in 1860.
Works
In 1811 he prepared for private circulation a limited edition of a reprint of
For Triphook he edited a series of reprints of sixteenth-century English literature. These included
- Sir John Harington's 'Metamorphosis of Ajax' (1814);
- 'Shakespeare's Jest Book' (3 parts, 1814–15);
- William Roper's 'Life of More' (1817);
- poems by Shakerley Marmion, John Chalkhill, and Christopher Marlowe (all in 1820), and Joseph Hall's 'Satires' (1824), as well as James Puckle's 'Club' (1834).
Other poems reproduced by Singer in his early days were Bartholomew Griffin's 'Fidessa' (1815), Edward Fairfax's 'Tasso' (1817, 2 vols.), and Henry Constable's 'Diana' (1818, in facsimile). In 1815 he prepared from the Lambeth manuscripts the first complete edition of the life of Thomas Wolsey by George Cavendish (2nd ed. 1827).
His 'Researches into the History of Playing Cards; with Illustrations of the Origin of Printing and Engraving on Wood' was published in 1816; two hundred and fifty copies were printed. It was superseded by the 'Playing Cards of Various Ages and Countries,' published in three volumes (1892–95) by Lady
A popular venture was an edition of Shakespeare in ten volumes, which Singer undertook for Whittingham; it was issued by the Chiswick Press in 1826. Singer was responsible for a collation of the text and many notes. A life was contributed by Dr. Charles Symmons, and there were wood engravings after the designs of Stothard and others. The edition was frequently republished.. A reissue in 1856 included a series of critical essays by Singer's friend, William Watkiss Lloyd. Singer made the earliest attack on the genuineness of John Payne Collier's manuscript corrections in the so-called Perkins folio. The work appeared in 1853 as the 'Text of Shakespeare vindicated from the Interpolations and Corruptions advocated by J. P. Collier in his Notes and Emendations.’
Meanwhile Singer had studied
He edited Robert Herrick's 'Poetical Works' (1846), Francis Bacon's 'Essays' (1856), and John Selden's 'Table Talk' (1847; 2nd edit. 1856). He translated Martin Luther's 'Way to Prayer' (1846), and (with original additions) 'Wayland Smith' from the French of G. P. Depping and Francisque Michel (1847).
References
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Singer, Samuel Weller". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.