Life

He was a native of Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, and educated at the university there. The Duke of Northumberland

Duke of Northumberland

The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of Great Britain that has been created several times. Since the third creation in 1766, the title has belonged to the House of Percy , which held the title of Earl of Northumberland from 1377....

 employed him as private secretary, both at Alnwick Castle

Alnwick Castle

Alnwick Castle is a castle and stately home in the town of the same name in the English county of Northumberland. It is the residence of the Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest, and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a Grade I listed building.-History:Alnwick...

 and in London. Subsequently he for some time had charge of Dr. Williams's Library, and he also acted as minister at a meeting-house near the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

. He then became a professional writer.

When a new edition of the Cyclopædia of Ephraim Chambers

Ephraim Chambers

Ephraim Chambers was an English writer and encyclopaedist, who is primarily known for producing the Cyclopaedia, or a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.-Early life:...

 was proposed, he was engaged as provisional editor, drew up a plan, and wrote some articles. Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...

 who was involved in the project disliked the prolix style. In the discussion which ensued with the publisher William Strahan

William Strahan

William Strahan was a Scottish printer and publisher, and a Member of Parliament.Born in Edinburgh as William Strachan, and educated at the Royal High School, Strahan was originally apprenticed to an Edinburgh printer but became a Master Printer in London...

, Calder offended Johnson and was deprived of the editorship, which went to Abraham Rees

Abraham Rees

Abraham Rees was a Welsh nonconformist minister, and compiler of Rees's Cyclopaedia .- Life :He was the second son of Lewis Rees, by his wife Esther, daughter of Abraham Penry, and was born at born in Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire. Lewis Rees Abraham Rees (1743 – 9 June 1825) was a Welsh...

.

In 1776 Calder drew up a plan of a periodical work called the ‘Selector.’ He also projected a ‘Foreign Intelligencer.’ While at Alnwick he made the acquaintance of Thomas Percy whom he assisted in preparing a new edition of the ‘Tatler,’ ‘Spectator,’ and ‘Guardian,’ with notes and illustrations. When Calder moved to London, the materials collected by Percy were passed on to him, and later used in editions of these works published by John Nichols

John Nichols (printer)

John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary.-Early life and apprenticeship:He was born in Islington, London to Edward Nichols and Anne Wilmot. On 22 June 1766 he married Anne Cradock daughter of William Cradock...

, especially the ‘Tatler’ published in 6 vols. in 1786, in which "Annotator" means Calder.

In 1789 he translated from the French Pierre François le Courayer

Pierre François le Courayer

Pierre François le Courayer was a French Catholic theological writer, for many years an expatriate in England.-Life:Pierre François le Courayer was born at Rouen...

's Declaration of his last Sentiments on the different Doctrines of Religion, to which he prefixed a memoir of Courayer. To the new edition of the Biographia Britannica

Biographia Britannica

Biographia Britannica was a multi-volume biographical compendium, "the most ambitious attempt in the latter half of the eighteenth century to document the lives of notable British men and women". The first edition, edited by William Oldys, appeared in 6 volumes between 1747 and 1766...

he contributed a long article on the Courten family.

Around 1789 he moved from Furnival's Inn

Furnival's Inn

Furnival's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which formerly stood on the site of the present Holborn Bars building in Holborn, London, England.-History:...

 to Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, where he knew the scholar East Apthorp well enough to send Nichols details which were inserted in Literary Anecdotes. He was a collector with an extensive library, and a large cabinet of Greek and Roman coins. His last years were spent at Lisson Grove

Lisson Grove

Lisson Grove is a district and also a street of the City of Westminster, London, England located just to the north of the city ring road. There are many landmarks surrounding the area. To the north is Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood. To the west are Paddington and Watling Street...

, London, where he died 10 June 1815.