ALLIBONE, Samuel Austin, author, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 April, 1816; d. in Lucerne, Switzerland, 2 Sept., 1889. He gained a high reputation in early life for his familiar knowledge of English and American literature. He applied his learning to the preparation of a great work entitled “A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors,” the first volume of which appeared in 1854, and the second and third in 1871. This laborious compilation, exhibiting careful exactness and critical judgment, contains notices of 46,499 authors, with 40 classified indexes of subjects. Before the appearance of this “Dictionary of Authors,” Dr. Allibone had published “A Review by a Layman of a Work entitled 'New Themes for the Protestant Clergy'” (Philadelphia, 1852), and “'New Themes' Condemned” (1853). In 1868 he published “An Alphabetical Index to the New Testament,” and in 1871 the “Union Bible Companion,” the first part of which work was published separately under the title of “The Divine Origin of the Holy Scriptures.” In 1873 appeared his “Poetical Quotations, from Chaucer to Tennyson,” with copious indexes, containing 13,600 passages taken from 550 authors, classified under 435 subjects. This was followed by “Prose Quotations, from Socrates to Macaulay,” with indexes to the 8,810 quotations, containing the names of 544 authors and 571 subjects (1876). In 1880 he published “Great Authors of All Ages; being Selections from the Prose Works of Eminent Writers from the time of Pericles to the Present Day,” with indexes. He published also “Explanatory Questions on the Gospels and the Acts” (1869), and was the author of numerous religious tracts and articles in periodicals. The indexes to Edward Everett's “Orations and Speeches” (1850-'59), and Washington Irving's “Life and Letters” (1861-'64), were from his hand. He was book editor and corresponding secretary of the American Sunday-school union from 1867 till 1873, and from 1877 till 1879, when he became librarian of the Lenox library, resigning in 1888.
