Samuel Bentley

Samuel Bentley(1785–1868) was an English printer and antiquarian.

Life

The second son of Edward Bentley and his wife Anne Nichols, sister ofJohn Nichols,he was born 10 May 1785;Richard Bentleythe publisher was a younger brother. He was educated atSt Paul's School, London,and after an apprenticeship with Nichols was taken into partnership.

In 1819 Bentley went into partnership with his brother Richard, in Dorset Street, Salisbury Square; and on the latter taking over the business of Colburn, he established the firm of Samuel and John Bentley, Wilson, & Fley, at Bangor House, Shoe Lane, John being his nephew. He visited the type-foundry ofFirmin Didotin Paris.

With failing eyesight, Bentley gave up his business in 1853. He retired toCroydon,with his wife whom he had married in 1825.

Works

Bentley's major antiquarian work was theExcerpta Historica(1831), with which he had the assistance ofHarris Nicolas,Sir Charles Young,Duffus Hardy,and others. He indexed theLiterary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Centuryby Nichols, and theHistory of Durham,byRobert Surtees.Other works were:

• Concio de Puero Jesu(editor, 1816), written byErasmusat the request ofJohn Colet.This edition is dedicated toJohn Sleath.
• An Abstract of Charters and other Documents contained in a Cartulary of the Abbey of St. Peter, Westminster, in the possession of S. B.(1836, for private circulation).

Bentley assisted Nicolas in preparing for publication theScrope and Grosvenor Roll,which he read in manuscript in theTower of London.

Notes

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Stephen, Leslie,ed. (1885). "Bentley, Samuel".Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.