Samuel Halkett (21 June 1814 – 20 April 1871) was a Scottish librarian, now known for his work on anonymous publications.

Life

He was born in 1814 in the North Back of the Canongate, Edinburgh, where his father was in business as a brewer. He was educated at two private schools, and was apprenticed at the age of fourteen. For five years he was employed by Messrs. Marshall & Aitken, and afterwards by Messrs. Abernethy & Stewart, with whom he remained until he went into business for himself. His spare time was devoted to study, spoken of by Sir William Hamilton and others in supporting his successful candidature for the keepership of the

Advocates Library The Advocates Library, founded in 1682, is the law library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh. It served as the national deposit library of Scotland until 1925, at which time through an Act of Parliament the National Library of Scotland ...

, Edinburgh, in 1848. In 1860 he was living at 35 East Claremont Street in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Stree ...

.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1860 Halkett died in April 1871, aged 57, leaving a widow and four children. He is buried against the south wall of the main section of

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

, backing onto the former railway.

Works

On being appointed librarian to the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...

he found the library without an alphabetical catalogue. He began a slip-catalogue, which formed the basis of the ''Catalogue of the Printed Books in the Library of the Faculty of Advocates'', Edinburgh, 1863–79, 7 vols. The printing was begun in 1860, and was completed on a scale somewhat less extensive than at first planned. A report by Halkett on the state of the library in 1868 was appended to a memorandum signed by

John Hill Burton John Hill Burton FRSE (22 August 1809 – 10 August 1881) was a Scottish advocate, historian and economist. The author of ''Life and Correspondence of David Hume'', he was secretary of the Scottish Prison Board (1854–77), and Historiograph ...

on a proposed enlargement of the scope of the library (Edinburgh, 1868). In 1856 Halkett wrote to ''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...

'' (2nd ser. i. 129) that he had been collecting materials for a dictionary of anonymous English works; on his death his materials were handed over to the Rev. John Laing, librarian of the

New College, Edinburgh New College is a historic building at the University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious Studies in the United Kingdom. Students ...

, who continued the work until his death in 1880. The book finally appeared, with additions, edited by Catherine Laing, as ''A Dictionary of the Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain'' (Edinburgh, 1882–8, 4 vols.). Halkett also contributed some articles to Chambers's '' Cyclopædia''.

Family

He was married to Caroline Sophia Roland (d. 1883).

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Halkett, Samuel 1814 births 1871 deaths Scottish librarians Scottish bibliographers Curators from Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish people Burials at Warriston Cemetery