Richard Taylor (editor)
Encyclopedia
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
and publisher of scientific journal
Scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
s. He became joint editor of the Philosophical Magazine
Philosophical Magazine
The Philosophical Magazine is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. Initiated by Alexander Tilloch in 1798, in 1822 Richard Taylor became joint editor and it has been published continuously by Taylor & Francis ever since; it was the journal of choice for such luminaries as...
in 1822 and went of to publish the Annals of Natural History in 1838. He edited and published Scientific Memoirs
Scientific Memoirs
Scientific Memoirs, Selected from the Transactions of Foreign Academies of science and Learned Societies and from Foreign Journals was a series of books edited and published by Richard Taylor in London between 1837 and 1852....
, Selected from the Transactions of Foreign Academies of Science from 1837 to 1852. In 1852 he was joined by the chemist, Dr William Francis to form Taylor and Francis
Taylor and Francis
Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom which publishes books and academic journals. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Kingdom-based publisher and conference company.- Overview :...
.
Life
He was born at NorwichNorwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
on 18 May 1781, the second son of John Taylor. He was educated in a day school in that town by the Rev. John Houghton. He was then apprenticed, on the recommendation of Sir James Edward Smith, to a printer named Davis, of Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane is the street which has been the western boundary of the City of London since 1994 having previously been divided between Westminster and Camden...
, London. He studied the classics, mediæval Latin and Italian poets, and modern languages.
On the expiration of his apprenticeship he for a short time carried on a printing business in partnership with a Mr. Wilks in Chancery Lane; but on 18 May 1803 he established himself in partnership with his father in Blackhorse Court, Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
, subsequently removing to Shoe Lane, and finally to Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, where the firm ultimately developed into Taylor & Francis. His younger brother Arthur was his partner from 1814 to 1823, and his nephew, John Edward Taylor, joined him from 1837 to 1851, Dr. William Francis, subsequently head of the firm, becoming his partner in the following year. Taylor and his partners produced major works in natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, as well as fine editions of the classics.
In 1807 he became a fellow of the Linnean Society, and in 1810 was elected a secretary. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Astronomical and Philological societies, and was an original member of the British Association.
In 1822 he joined Alexander Tilloch
Alexander Tilloch
-Early life:The son of John Tilloch, a tobacco merchant and magistrate of Glasgow, he was born there on 28 February 1759. He was educated at Glasgow University, and turned his attention to printing. In 1781 he began work on stereotypes. In 1725 William Ged had obtained a privilege for a development...
as editor of the Philosophical Magazine, subsequently the ‘London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine.’ He established the Annals of Natural History in 1838, with which the Magazine of Natural History was incorporated in 1841, and the two were carried on as the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.
For thirty-five years Taylor represented the ward of Farringdon Without on the council of the City of London. He took an active part in matters of education, and assisted in founding the City of London School
City of London School
The City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
and the corporation library, while he promoted the establishment of the London University (later University College, London). In 1852 his health gave way, and he retired to Richmond, Surrey, where he died on 1 December 1858.
Works
Taylor also edited and issued five volumes between 1837 and 1852 of ‘Scientific Memoirs selected from the Transactions of foreign Academies of Science,’ as well as an edition of Thomas WartonThomas Warton
Thomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England...
's ‘History of English Poetry,’ 1840. In addition, he edited Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
's ‘Lectures on History,’ 1826, John Horne Tooke
John Horne Tooke
John Horne Tooke was an English politician and philologist.-Early life and work:He was born in Newport Street, Long Acre, Westminster, the third son of John Horne, a poulterer in Newport Market. As a youth at Eton College, Tooke described his father to friends as a "turkey merchant"...
's Ἐπεα πτερόεντα, 1829 and 1840, and contributed to Jonathan Boucher
Jonathan Boucher
Jonathan Boucher was an English clergyman, teacher and philologist.-Early career:Boucher was born in Blencogo, near Wigton, Cumberland, and educated at the Wigton grammar school. After training in Workington, Jonathan became a teacher at St Bees School and in 1759 went to Virginia, where he became...
's ‘Glossary of Archaic and Provincial Words,’ 1832.