Life

The son of John Small and Margaret Brown his wife, he was born at Edinburgh in 1828. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy

Edinburgh Academy

The Edinburgh Academy is an independent school which was opened in 1824. The original building, in Henderson Row on the northern fringe of the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, is now part of the Senior School...

 and the university, where he graduated M.A. in 1847. In the same year, on the death of his father, who was acting librarian of the university library, he succeeded to the post.

In 1854 he obtained the full status of librarian, with an official residence. He held the office, also in succession to his father, of acting librarian to the College of Physicians (Edinburgh), for which he prepared a catalogue in 1863. He also served for many years as assistant clerk to the Senatus Academicus and editor of the University Calendar. He was president of the Library Association in 1880, and on 21 April 1886 the university of Edinburgh gave him the degree of LL.D

Doctor of law

Doctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.-Argentina:...

. He was for some time treasurer of the university musical society.

Small devoted his leisure to literary work. His first larger publication was a volume, English Metrical Homilies … Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, 4to, Edinburgh, 1862. He was the chief associate of Cosmo Innes

Cosmo Innes

Cosmo Nelson Innes was a Scottish historian and antiquary.Innes was educated at Edinburgh High School, at Aberdeen and Glasgow Universities, and at Balliol College, Oxford. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1822, and was appointed Professor of Constitutional Law and History in the...

 in editing the Journal of Andrew Halyburton, published in 1867. Thereafter his chief labour was expended on editing, with careful glossaries and indices, the works of early Scottish poets, viz. The Poetical Works of Gavin Douglas, 4 vols. 8vo, Edinburgh, 1874; Sir David Lyndesay's Monarchie for the Early English Text Society (1865–6), and The Poems of William Dunbar for the Scottish Text Society (1884–1892). In 1885 he re-edited Dr. Laing's Remains of Early Scottish Poetry, prefixing a bibliographical notice of his predecessor. To the British and Foreign Evangelical Review he sent an elaborate article on the authorship of the 'Ode to the Cuckoo', and he contributed numerous papers to the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...

 and the Society of Antiquaries

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

. He also gave much assistance to Sir Alexander Grant in writing the History of Edinburgh University (1884).

After a long illness he died unmarried in Edinburgh on 20 Aug. 1886, and was buried in the Grange cemetery.

Works

Besides the works mentioned, Small wrote:

• Some Account of the Original Protest of the Bohemian Nobles, 4to, Edinburgh, 1861.
• Historical Sketch of the Library of the Royal College of Physicians, 4to, Edinburgh, 1863.
• Biographical Sketch of Dr. Adam Fergusson, 4to, Edinburgh, 1864.
• Biographical Sketch of Patrick Fraser Tytler, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1864.
• A Hundred Wonders of the World in Nature and Art, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1876.
• On Serfdom in Scotland, 4to, Edinburgh, 1878.
• The Castles and Mansions of the Lothians, 2 vols. Edinburgh, 4to, 1878.
• Queen Mary at Jedburgh in 1566 … 4to, Edinburgh, 1881.

He edited The Indian Primer, by John Eliot

John Eliot (missionary)

John Eliot was a Puritan missionary to the American Indians. His efforts earned him the designation “the Indian apostle.”-English education and Massachusetts ministry:...

, 12mo, Edinburgh, 1878; The Image of Ireland, by John Derricke

John Derricke

John Derricke was the writer and artist of The Image of Irelande, with a Discoverie of Woodkarne, a 1581 book documenting Sir Henry Sidney's campaigns in Ireland as Queen Elizabeth I's Lord Deputy...

, 4to, Edinburgh, 1883; and A Description of the Isles of Orkney, by James Wallace

James Wallace (minister)

-Life:He studied at the University of Aberdeen, where he graduated M.A. on 27 April 1659. He was shortly afterwards appointed minister of Ladykirk in Orkney. From there he was translated to Kirkwall in 1672. On 16 October 1678 he was also collated by Bishop Mackenzie to the prebend of St...

, Edinburgh, 1883.