French by William Tooke, with several additions,' London, 4to. On 5 June 1783 he was elected F.R.S. (Thomson, Hist. Royal Society, App. p. lix), and on 14 May 1784 was admitted sizar of Jesus College, Cambridge, but neither resided nor graduated (note from Mr. E. Abbott of Jesus College). Shortly afterwards he became member of the imperial academy of sciences at St. Petersburg and of the free economical society of St. Petersburg. While chaplain at St. Petersburg Tooke made frequent visits to Poland and Germany, some details of which are printed from his letters in Nichols's 'Literary Anecdotes' (ix. 168 et seq.). At Königsberg he made the acquaintance of Kant, the author of the 'Critique of Pure Reason.'
In 1792 Tooke was left a fortune by a maternal uncle, and returned to England to enjoy it and devote himself to literary production. His long residence at St. Petersburg, freedom of access to the imperial library there, and intimacy with Russian men of letters had given him exceptional facilities for the study of Russian history, and he now set to work to publish the results of his researches. He had already translated from the German 'Russia, or a compleat Historical Account of all the Nations which compose that Empire,' London, 4 vols. 1780–1783, 8vo. In 1798 appeared 'The Life of Catharine II, Empress of Russia; an enlarged translation from the French,' 3 vols. 8vo. More than half the work consisted of Tooke's additions. It was followed in 1799 by 'A View of the Russian Empire during the Reign of Catharine II and to the close of the present Century,' 3 vols. 8vo; a second edition appeared in 1800, and was translated into French in six volumes (Paris, 1801). In 1800 Tooke published a 'History of Russia from the Foundation of the Monarchy by Rurik to the Accession of Catharine the Second,' London, 2 vols. 8vo.
These works did not exhaust Tooke's literary activity. In 1795 he produced two volumes of 'Varieties of Literature,' and, encouraged by their success, followed it up in 1798 by a similar venture, 'Selections from Foreign Literary Journals.' He was principal editor, assisted by William Beloe [q. v.] and Robert Nares [q. v.], of the 'New and General Biographical Dictionary,' published in fifteen volumes in 1798; and in the same year he wrote 'Observations on the Expedition of General Bonaparte to the East,' 8vo. A few years later he began a translation in ten volumes of the sermons of the Swiss divine, George Joachim Zollikofer. The first two appeared in 1804 (2nd edit. 1807), two in 1806, two in 1807, and two in 1812; they were followed in 1815 by a translation of the same divine's 'Devotional Exercises and Prayers.' In 1814 Tooke served as chaplain to the lord mayor of London, Sir William Domville, and preached in that capacity several sermons, which were published separately (see Brit. Mus. Cat.) He contributed largely to the 'Monthly Review' and the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' and is credited with the authorship of the memoir of Sir Hans Sloane, written in French, and extant in Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 30066 (Cat. Addit. MSS. 1882, p. 30). His last work was 'Lucian of Samosata, from the Greek, with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and others,' London, 1820, 2 vols. 4to.
Tooke resided during his latter years in Great Ormond Street, Bloomsbury, but removed to Guilford Street just before his death, which took place on 17 Nov. 1820. He was buried on the 23rd in St. Pancras new burial-ground. An engraving by J. Collyer, after a portrait by (Sir) Martin Archer Shee, is prefixed to the 'Lucian.' Tooke married, in 1771, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Eyton of Llanganhafal, Denbighshire, by whom he had issue two sons, Thomas [q. v.] and William [q. v.], and a daughter Elizabeth.
[An elaborate account of Tooke is given by his friend, John Nichols [q. v.], in his Literary Anecdotes, ix. 160–80. See also Tooke's Works in the British Museum Library; Gent. Mag. 1814 i. 257, 363, ii. 47, 563, 564, 1816 i. 433, 1820 ii. 466–8, 1839 ii. 605; Burke's Landed Gentry, 1894, ii. 2020.]
TOOKE, WILLIAM (1777–1863), president of the Society of Arts, was the younger son of William Tooke (1744–1820) [q. v.], chaplain to the factory of the Russia Company at St. Petersburg. Thomas Tooke [q. v.] was his elder brother. Born at St. Petersburg on 22 Nov. 1777, William came to England in 1792, and was articled to William Devon, solicitor, in Gray's Inn, with whom he entered into partnership in 1798. Subsequently he was for many years at 39 Bedford Row, in partnership with Charles Parker, and latterly in the firm of Tooke, Son, & Hallowes. In 1825 he took a prominent part in the formation of the St. Katharine's Docks, and was the London agent of George Barker [q. v.], the solicitor of the London and Birmingham railway. He shared in the foundation of the London University (afterwards called University College) in Gower Street, was one of the first council (19 Dec. 1823), and continued his services as treasurer until March 1841. In procuring the charter for the Royal Society of Literature he showed his liberality by refusing any remuneration for
