List of contributors to Rees's Cyclopædia
There were about 100 contributors to Rees's Cyclopædia, most of whom were Nonconformists. They were specialists in their fields, covering science, technology, medicine, manufacturing, agriculture, banking and transportation, as well as the arts and humanities. A number were members of the teaching staffs of the Royal Military Academy, and the Addiscombe Military Seminary of the East India Company. Other contributors were working journalists who wrote for scientific, medical and technical periodicals of the time. Several of the contributors were active in radical politics; one was gaoled for sedition and another indicted for treason.
Amongst the eminent writers engaged by Rees were Dr Charles Burney who wrote on music and musical biography; Dr Lant Carpenter on education, mental and moral philosophy; Tiberius Cavallo on electricity and magnetism; John Farey, sr., on canals, geology, music and surveying; John Farey, jr. on machinery, manufactures, steam engine, and water. He also contributed a great number of the illustrations; John Flaxman on sculpture; Luke Howard on meteorology; John Landseer on engraving; Sir William Lawrence, on human and comparative anatomy; Sir James Edward Smith on botany; David Mushet on metallurgy and chemistry; Rev. William Pearson on astronomy; Sir Thomas Phillips on painting.
Among the artists and engravers employed were Aaron Arrowsmith who engraved the maps; William Blake who made engravings to illustrate some of the sculpture articles; Thomas Milton who engraved most of the natural history plates; Wilson Lowry who engraved numerous of the plates especially those relating to architecture, machinery and scientific instruments.
With the exception of the botanical articles by Sir James Edward Smith, none of the articles are signed. Names were recorded in the Prospectus of 1802, the introduction at the start of the first volume, the paper covers of the unbound parts which have survived, and in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine, published in 1820. The following alphabetical list has been compiled from the foregoing sources. The majority appear in the Dictionary of National Biography, and in sources listed in the British Biographical Index, but these accounts rarely record an involvement with the Cyclopædia.
List of contributors
List of contributors by topic
The previous list has been sorted into subject areas. It allows contributors of many single articles, usually of monograph length, to be identified. However a number of subjects, such as architecture and chemistry, have multiple contributors, so individual attributions are not possible.| SUBJECT AREA | CONTRIBUTOR |
| Agriculture | Richard Watson Dickson |
| Algebra | Peter Barlow, John Bonnycastle, John Pond |
| Analysis | John Bonnycastle, John Pond |
| Anatomy | William Lawrence |
| Annuities | William Morgan |
| Antiquities | Henry Ellis, Joseph Strutt |
| Aquatinta | Thomas Webster |
| Arch | George Sanderson |
| Architecture | Edmund Aikin, Peter Nicholson, William Porden, Thomas Webster |
| Artillery carriages | James Glenie |
| Astronomy | John Bonnycastle, John Pond |
| Astronomical instruments | William Pearson |
| Atmosphere | Abraham Rees |
| Biographies | Benjamin Heath Malkin, Thomas Rees |
| Botanical Biography | James Edward Smith |
| Musical Biography | Charles Burney |
| Blast Furnaces | David Mushet |
| Bleaching | Charles Taylor |
| Blowing Furnaces | David Mushet |
| Botany | James Edward Smith, William Wood, William Woodville |
| Canals | John Farey, sr |
| Cannon | James Glenie |
| Carpentry | Peter Nicholson |
| Chemistry | Arthur Aikin, William Thomas Brande, John Dalton, Alexander Marcet, Charles Sylvester, Humphry Davy, John Davy, John Fletcher |
| Chronometrical instruments | William Pearson |
| Cipher | William Blair |
| Coinage | Patrick Kelly |
| Comparative Anatomy | Bracy Clark, James Macartney |
| Comparative Physiology | William Lawrence |
| Conchology | Edward Donovan |
| Conic Section | James Ivory |
| Cotton spinning | James Thomson |
| Curves | James Ivory |
| Definite Proportions | Charles Sylvester |
| Degree | John Pond |
| Diophantine | John Pond |
| Drawing | Henry Howard |
| Dynamics | Tiberius Cavallo |
| Education | Lant Carpenter |
| Electricity | Tiberius Cavallo, John Cuthbertson |
| Enamelling | Edmund Turrell |
| English History | William Owen Pughe, Sharon Turner |
| Entomology | Edward Donovan |
| Exchanges | Patrick Kelly |
| File Cutting | Charles Sylvester |
| Force | John Pond |
| Fortification | James Glenie |
| French school of engraving | John Landseer |
| Galvanism | Charles Sylvester |
| Gem | Charles Konig |
| Gem engraving | Charles Konig |
| Geognosy | Charles Konig |
| Geography | Thomas Dix Hincks |
| Geography | William Tooke |
| Geology | Arthur Aikin, Robert Bakewell, John Farey, sr |
| Geometry | Peter Barlow, James Ivory |
| Gothic Architecture | John Milner |
| Grammar | John Jones |
| Heraldry | George Nayler |
| Horology | William Pearson |
| Human physiology | William Lawrence |
| Hydrostatics | Abraham Rees |
| Indian Mythology | Edward Moor |
| Iron manufacture | David Mushet |
| Italian school of engraving | John Landseer |
| Joinery | Peter Nicholson |
| Language | Lant Carpenter, John Jones |
| Machinery | Tiberius Cavallo, John Farey, jr |
| Manufacture of Cotton | James Thompson |
| Manufactures | John Duncan, John Farey, jr, Samuel Parkes |
| Mathematics | John Leslie |
| Measures | John Farey, sr |
| Mechanics | Tiberius Cavallo, John Farey, jr |
| Medicine | Alexander Henderson |
| Medicine | Thomas Bateman |
| Mental & Moral Philosophy | Lant Carpenter |
| Mental derangement | John Haslam |
| Meteorology | John Dalton, Richard Watson Dickson, Luke Howard |
| Midwifery | Robert Bland |
| Mill | John Farey, jr |
| Mineralogy | Arthur Aikin, Robert Bakewell, Charles Konig |
| Mining | John Taylor |
| Music | Charles Burney, John Farey, sr |
| Naval Architecture | George Glover |
| Navigation | Andrew Mackay |
| Optical Instruments | William Pearson |
| Other schools of engraving | John Landseer |
| Painting | John Opie, William Young Ottley, Thomas Phillips, John Russell |
| Panorama | Peter Nicholson |
| Perspective | Peter Nicholson |
| Physiology | John Abernethy, James Macartney |
| Planetary Machines | William Pearson |
| Pottery | Charles Sylvester |
| Projection | Peter Nicholson |
| Proportional Compasses | Peter Nicholson |
| Prosody | H. Parker |
| Rock | Robert Bakewell |
| Sculpture | John Bacon, John Flaxman, Prince Hoare |
| Shadows | Peter Nicholson |
| Standard | Patrick Kelly |
| Steam Engine | John Farey, jr |
| Stenography | William Blair |
| Stereography | Peter Nicholson |
| Stereometry | Peter Nicholson |
| Strata | Robert Bakewell |
| Strength of Materials | Peter Barlow |
| Surgery | William Blair, Samuel Cooper |
| Topography | John Britton |
| Trigonometrical Survey | John Farey, sr |
| Versification | H. Parker |
| Voltaism | Charles Sylvester |
| Watch | William Pearson |
| Water | John Farey, jr |
| Weaving | John Duncan |
| Weight | Patrick Kelly |
| Wool | Robert Bakewell |
| Worsted | Robert Bakewell |
The following are noted as contributors of unidentified topics:
Abraham Rees, Charles Rochmont Aikin, Edward Coleman, Henry Ellis, Henry Howard, Jeremiah Joyce, John Clennel, Sir Astley Cooper, W. Crowe, Clarkson, Richard Pearson, Thomas Rees, W. Symonds, and William Thomas.
List of artists
Artists not listed as contributors:| Name | Plates |
| James Brown | Cotton Manufacture IV |
| Edward Burney | Instruments of Music |
| J. Burton | Cotton Manufacture II, III, VII |
| W. Duesbury | Chemistry XVI, XVII |
| Richard Duppa | Natural History, V, IV |
| Edward Kennyon | Clouds I, II |
| John Laporte | Drawing, Plate 8. Plate 9 |
| I. Glover | Naval Architecture II, VI, VIII, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV; Rigging I, II, III,IV; Ships masts VII |
| L Hebert | Astronomy, I, II; Constellation I, II; Woollen manufacture I |
| Alex. Macpherson | Geographiæ Antiquæ I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII |
| Strange | Ancient Musical Instruments IV |
| William Thomson | Chemistry XX; Cotton Manufacture I |
| Cornelius Varley | Bleaching |
| Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy | Horology XLVI |
| T. Webster | Musical Instruments, XI, XII, XII XII, XIV, XV, |
List of engravers
Engravers not listed as contributors:| Name | Plates |
| William? Bond ft 1803 | Basso Relievo 1, 11 |
| William Blake | Armour; Basso Releivo IV; Sculpture I, II, III, IV |
| J. Bye, 34 Duke Street, Smithfield | Spain and Portugal |
| John Cooke, Camden Town fl 1800 | Switzerland, East Germany, West Germany, Cape of Good Hope |
| Cooper ?Richard;?. Robert | Geographiæ Antiquæ VI, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XX, XXI; British Isles, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden & Denmark, S. Part of Russia in Europe, The Seven United Provinces, Hungary, Arabia, Persia, China, East India Islands, Pacific Ocean |
| Robert Hartley Cromeck | Sculpture I |
| Alex. Findlay | Geographim Antique I, III; Canals of Great Britain |
| J. Greig | South Italy in Atlas |
| Hewitt, Queen Street, Bloomsbury | England & Wales |
| Edward Jones, West Square. fl 1770 | France, Asia, United States |
| Charles Knight | Drawing IV |
| Jel- fecit | Monograms etc of French engravers Monograms etc of German engravers 1, 2, 3 Monograms etc of Low Countries engravers 2 Monograms etc of Italian engravers 1, 2, 3 |
| Jno Lee | Music I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVII; XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII; XXIV, XXV, XXVII, XXVIII; XXIX, XXX, XII, XXXIII; XLV, Plate Euclid, XLVIII; Ancient Musical Instruments III, IV, V; Instruments of Music VI,;Musical Instruments VII, VIII, IX; X, XI, X11, X111,XIV, XV; Writing by cipher II |
| Lewis | Architecture XXVI |
| J Lodge | The world on Mercator's Projection |
| Henry Noses | Composition I, II |
| James Parker | Basso Relievo III |
Pseudonymous and unknown contributors
Pseudonymous and unknown contributors are very few. Contributor Richard Watson Dickson published a book about gardening in 1807 under the name of Alexander MacDonald. At about this time there seems to have been a genre established of books on practical topics for craftsmen, containing information taken from the various encyclopædias being published then and written by journalists. One such was "Thomas Martin", The Circle of the Mechanical Arts. Another was "John Nicholson", The Operative Mechanic, 1825. Both the writers were described as civil engineers, yet are quite unknown in the profession and published nothing more.A handful of contributors are just recorded by name, with no indication of what they contributed, nor whom they might be.
;George Glover
George Glover, naval architect, was the named author of the naval architecture articles. However, no person of that name has been traced writing anything else or to have a connection with shipbuilding matters. It seems probable that the name is pseudonymous.
The articles are:
- Blocks, vol 4, 1804/5
- Boat, vol 4, 1804/5
- Mast, vol 22, 1812
- Rope and Rope-making, vol 30, 1815
- Rigging, vol 30, 1815
- Sail and Sail-Making, vol 31, 1815
- Ship-Building, vol 32, 1816
- Yards, vol 39, 1818
;John Fletcher
A number of the covers note he was a lecturer at the Royal Institution; he also wrote about chemistry. So far, no biographical information has been found.
;Kirkman
Noted as making drawings, but no candidate has been found.
;H. Parker
Noted as writing about prosody and versification, but no candidate has been found.
;George Sanderson
Noted as writing the "Arch" article, but no candidate has been found. He was a self-taught mathematician. A portrait had appeared in Philosophical Magazine, vol. 15, with an appeal for a biography to be written.
;W. Symonds
No topics or candidate have been found.