Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Dodd, George (1808-1881)
DODD, GEORGE (1808–1881), miscellaneous writer, was born in 1808, and died on 21 Jan. 1881. During nearly half a century he was known as an industrious and painstaking writer. An aptitude for presenting statistics in an attractive form made him a useful assistant to Charles Knight. He wrote numerous articles on industrial art in the ‘Penny Cyclopædia,’ the ‘English Cyclopædia,’ and supplements. He edited and wrote largely in the ‘Cyclopædia of the Industry of all Nations,’ 1851. He contributed to the ‘Penny Magazine,’ to ‘London,’ ‘The Land we live in,’ and to several other of Mr. Knight's serial publications. Some of his papers were collected and published in volumes, under the titles of ‘Days at the Factories,’ 12mo, London, 1843, of which one series only appeared, and ‘Curiosities of Industry,’ 8vo, London, 1852. For Knight's ‘Weekly Volumes’ he furnished an account of ‘The Textile Manufactures of Great Britain (British Manufactures. Chemical.—Metals. —British Manufactures, Series 4–6),’ 6 vols., 12mo, London, 1844–6. The work by which he was probably best known was an elaborate volume on ‘The Food of London; a sketch of the chief varieties, sources of supply … and machinery of distribution, of the food for a community of two millions and a half,’ 8vo, London, 1856. On Mr. Knight's retirement as a general publisher, Dodd became associated with Messrs. Chambers, and contributed largely to their serial publications. He also compiled for the same firm ‘Chambers's Handy Guide to London,’ &c., 8vo, London and Edinburgh [printed], 1862, and ‘Chambers's Handy Guide to the Kent and Sussex Coasts, in six routes or districts … [Preface signed G. D.], illustrated, with a clue map, &c.,’ 8vo, London and Edinburgh [printed], 1863. For over thirty years he contributed one or more papers to the ‘Companion to the [British] Almanac.’ His other writings are: 1. ‘Rudimentary Treatise on the Construction of Locks, [from materials furnished by A. C. Hobbs; compiled by G. Dodd, and] edited by C. Tomlinson,’ 12mo, London, 1853. 2. ‘Pictorial History of the Russian War,’ 1854–5–6. [Preface signed G. D.] With maps, plans, and wood engravings, 8vo, Edinburgh [printed], and London, 1856. 3. ‘A Chronicle of the Indian Revolt and of the Expeditions to Persia, China, and Japan, 1856–7–8. [Preface signed G. D.] With maps, plans, &c.,’ 8vo, London, Edinburgh [printed], 1859. 4. ‘Where do we get it, and how is it made? A familiar account of the mode of supplying our every-day wants, comforts, and luxuries. … With illustrations by W. Harvey,’ 8vo, London [1862]. 5. ‘Railways, Steamers, and Telegraphs; a glance at their recent progress and present state,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1867. 6. ‘Dictionary of Manufactures, Mining, Machinery, and the Industrial Arts,’ &c., 8vo, London [1871].
[Athenæum, 29 Jan. 1881, p. 167; Bookseller, 2 Feb. 1881, p. 103; Brit. Mus. Cat.; Cat. of Printed Books in Library of Faculty of Advocates.]