1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sotheby, William

SOTHEBY, WILLIAM (1757-1833), English author, was born in London on the 9th of November 1757. He was educated at Harrow, and subsequently procured a commission in a cavalry regiment. In 1780 he retired from the army on his marriage and devoted himself to literature, becoming a prominent figure in London literary society. His ample means enabled him to play the part of patron to many struggling authors, and his friends included Scott, Byron, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey, Hallam and Tom Moore. He himself soon acquired a considerable reputation as a translator, his verse translation of Virgil's Georgics (1800) being specially praised by contemporary critics, while in later life he published translations of the Iliad and Odyssey. He also wrote several historical tragedies for the stage, of which one was acted, and some poems. He died on the 30th of December 1833.