Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (2 May 1810 in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
– 6 March 1897 in
Edwinstowe
Edwinstowe is a large village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest. It is associated with the legends of Robin Hood and Maid Marian and known for the proximity of the f ...
, Nottinghamshire), was a British lexicographer and the author of ''
A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar'', ''
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'', sometimes referred to simply as ''Brewer's'', is a reference work containing definitions and explanations of many famous phrases, allusions, and figures, whether historical or mythical.
The "New Edit ...
'', and ''The Reader's Handbook'', among other reference books.
Education and travels
E. Cobham Brewer was the son of Elisabeth, née Kitton, and John Sherren Brewer, a
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
schoolmaster associated with the
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
congregation in Norwich. His father kept a school there in Calvert Street until 1824, when he opened an academy in Eaton on the outskirts. E. Cobham Brewer attended
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...
, graduating in Law in 1836. In the meantime he was ordained in 1838.
The science of the familiar
On returning to Norwich to work at his father's school, Brewer compiled his first major work, ''
A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar,'' which appeared about 1838–1841 and became immensely popular. It followed a simple format like a
catechism
A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...
, with questions and answers, and focused on explaining "the common phenomena of life", such as why snow is white or leaves are green. In later parts Brewer's questions place scientific information in a theological context, by asking readers to consider how scientific examples illustrate "the goodness and wisdom of God".
Its sales may have funded the extensive travels in Europe he made later.
Phrase and fable
On returning to England in 1856, Brewer started on the work that would become ''
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'', sometimes referred to simply as ''Brewer's'', is a reference work containing definitions and explanations of many famous phrases, allusions, and figures, whether historical or mythical.
The "New Edit ...
.'' This arose in part from correspondence with readers of his previous book. The first edition appeared in 1870 and a "New Edition revised, corrected, and enlarged" in 1895.
Of his methodology, Brewer wrote in the preface to the ''Historic Note-Book'':
I have been an author for sixty years, have written many books, and of course have been a very miscellaneous reader. In my long experience I have remarked how little the range of "literary" reading has varied, and how doubt still centres on matters which were ''cruces'' in my early years. So that a work of this kind is of as much usefulness in 1891 as it would have been in 1830. I have always read with a slip of paper and a pencil at my side, to jot down whatever I think may be useful to me, and these jottings I keep sorted in different lockers. This has been a life-habit with me....
''The Reader's Handbook'' has had an extended subsequent history. Detailed revisions by its editor, Henrietta Gerwig, it formed the nucleus of ''Crowell's Handbook for Readers and Writers'', which in turn provided the nucleus of ''
Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia
''Benét's Reader's Encyclopedia'' is a reference work devoted to world literature. The first volume appeared in 1948, edited by Pulitzer Prize-winner William Rose Benét, older brother of the writer Stephen Vincent Benét. Benét set out to "pre ...
'', "veritably a new book", as Benét remarked; in revised form, it is still in print.
Brewer's ''Reader's Handbook'' was re-edited by Marion Harland (1830–1922) and published in the United States with numerous illustrations, as ''Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama: A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook,'' 4 vols., New York 1892. Other works by Brewer include ''A Dictionary of Miracles: Imitative, Realistic and Dogmatic'' (c. 1884), and ''The Historic Notebook, With an Appendix of Battles''.
Family
Several of Brewer's siblings gained academic and professional success.
John Sherren Brewer
John Sherren Brewer, Jr. (March 1809 – February 1879) was an English clergyman, historian and scholar. He was a brother of E. Cobham Brewer, compiler of ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable''.
Birth and education
Brewer was born in Norwich ...
junior was a noted historian and editor of British State Papers at the
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
, whose son was the architectural illustrator
Henry William Brewer and his grandsons
Henry Charles Brewer
Henry Charles Brewer (1866–1950) was a British painter well known in the first half of the 20th century for his watercolour landscapes and architectural paintings.
Family and early life
Born on 25 May 1866 in Wurzburg, Bavaria, Henry Charle ...
and
James Alphege Brewer
James Alphege Brewer (1881-1946) was a well-known early 20th century producer of colour etchings - notably of English and European Cathedrals and churches and other scenes.
Family & Early Life
Brewer was born on 24th July 1881, in Kensington, ...
.
E Cobham Brewer's other siblings included William Brewer, a surgeon, who was elected a Liberal MP for Colchester in 1868; Robert Kitton Brewer became a Doctor of Music and a Baptist minister; two of his sisters ran a girls' school in Lime Tree Road, Norwich.
In 1856, Brewer married at Paris Ellen Mary, eldest daughter of the Rev. Francis Tebbutt of Hove.
E. Cobham Brewer died on 6 March 1897 at
Edwinstowe
Edwinstowe is a large village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest. It is associated with the legends of Robin Hood and Maid Marian and known for the proximity of the f ...
Vicarage,
Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Forest is a royal forest in Nottinghamshire, England, famous because of its historic association with the legend of Robin Hood.
The area has been wooded since the end of the Last Glacial Period (as attested by pollen sampling cores ...
, Nottinghamshire, where he had been living with his son-in-law, the
Rev. H. T. Hayman.
Works
''Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' (1894)*
The Reader's Handbook' Volume 1 (1899 edition)
*''Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama'' (eight or more volumes)
*''Theology in Science, or the testimony of Science to the Wisdom and Goodness of God''
*''History of France, brought down to 1874''
*''Evidences of Christianity''
*''Guide to Science''
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham
People from Edwinstowe
Writers from Norwich
British lexicographers
1810 births
1897 deaths
Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
19th-century lexicographers