List of contributors to Rees's Cyclopædia

There were about 100 contributors to Rees's Cyclopædia, most of whom were Nonconformists. They were specialists in their fields, covering science, technology, medicine, manufacturing, agriculture, banking and transportation, as well as the arts and humanities. A number were members of the teaching staffs of the Royal Military Academy, and the Addiscombe Military Seminary of the East India Company. Other contributors were working journalists who wrote for scientific, medical and technical periodicals of the time. Several of the contributors were active in radical politics; one was gaoled for sedition and another indicted for treason.

Amongst the eminent writers engaged by Rees were Dr Charles Burney (1726–1814) who wrote on music and musical biography; Dr Lant Carpenter (1780–1870) on education, mental and moral philosophy; Tiberius Cavallo (1799–1809) on electricity and magnetism; John Farey, sr. (1766–1826), on canals, geology, music and surveying; John Farey, jr. (1791–1851) on machinery, manufactures, steam engine, and water. He also contributed a great number of the illustrations; John Flaxman (1755–1826) on sculpture; Luke Howard (1772–1867) on meteorology; John Landseer (1769–1852) on engraving; Sir William Lawrence, (1783–1867) on human and comparative anatomy; Sir James Edward Smith (1759–1828) on botany; David Mushet on metallurgy and chemistry; Rev. William Pearson (1767–1847) on astronomy; Sir Thomas Phillips (1770–1875) on painting.

Among the artists and engravers employed were Aaron Arrowsmith (1750–1823) who engraved the maps; William Blake (1757–1827) who made engravings to illustrate some of the sculpture articles; Thomas Milton (1743–1827) who engraved most of the natural history plates; Wilson Lowry (1762–1824) who engraved numerous of the plates especially those relating to architecture, machinery and scientific instruments.

With the exception of the botanical articles by Sir James Edward Smith, none of the articles are signed. Names were recorded in the Prospectus of 1802, the introduction at the start of the first volume, the paper covers of the unbound parts which have survived, and in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine, published in 1820. The following alphabetical list has been compiled from the foregoing sources. The majority appear in the Dictionary of National Biography, and in sources listed in the British Biographical Index, but these accounts rarely record an involvement with the Cyclopædia.

List of contributors Name TopicsJohn Abernethy (1764–1831) Anatomy, PhysiologyArthur Aikin (1773–1854) Chemistry, Geology, MineralogyCharles Rochmont Aikin (1775–1847) Topics not StatedEdmund Aikin (1780–1820) ArchitectureWilliam Anderson (1757–1837) Made drawings (perhaps of marine topics)Aaron Arrowsmith (1750–1823) Directed MapsJohn Bacon (1777–1859) SculptureRobert Bakewell (1768–1843) Geology, Mineralogy, Rock, Strata, Wool, WorstedPeter Barlow (1776–1862) Algebra, Analysis, Geometry, Strength of MaterialsThomas Bateman (1778–1821) MedicineDelabere Pritchett Blaine (1768–1845) Veterinary art; Sporting lifeWilliam Blair (1766–1822)Cipher, Stenography, SurgeryRobert Bland (1730–1816) MidwiferyJohn Bonnycastle (1780?–1821) Algebra, Analysis, AstronomyThomas Bradley (1751–1813) Medicine (Not listed in Phil. Mag. but on Prospectus)William Thomas Brande (1788–1866) ChemistryJohn Britton (1771–1857) TopographyCharles Burney (1726–1814) Musical biography, MusicLant Carpenter (1780–1840) Education, Language, Mental & Moral PhilosophyTiberius Cavallo (1749–1809) Electricity, Machinery, MechanicsBracy Clark (1771–1860) Comparative Anatomy (Not listed in Phil. Mag. but on a cover)Thomas Clarkson (1760–1846) Various articles (?Slavery etc)John Clennell (1772–1822) Topics not statedEdward Coleman(1766–1839) Topics not stated (?Farriery)Sir Astley Cooper (1768–1871) Topics not stated (?Medicine/Surgery)Samuel Cooper (1780–1848) SurgeryWilliam Crowe (1745–1829) Topics not stated (?Poetry)John Cuthbertson (1743–1816) Electricity?John Dalton (1766–1844) Chemistry, MeteorologyThomas Daniell (1749–1840) Made drawingsWilliam Daniell (1769–1837) Made drawingsHumphry Davy (1778–1829) ChemistryJohn Davy (1790–1868) ChemistryRichard Watson Dickson (1759–1824) Agriculture, MeteorologyEdward Donovan (1768–1837) Conchology, Entomology etc Made drawings and arranged natural history platesJohn Duncan fl. 1800 Manufactures, WeavingSydenham Edwards (1769?–1819) Made Natural History drawingsHenry Ellis (1777–1869) Antiquities and various articlesJohn Farey, sr. (1766–1826) Canals, Geology, Measures, Music, Trig. SurveyJohn Farey, jr. (1791–1851) Machinery, Manufactures, Mechanics Mill, Steam Engine, Water etc. Made numerous mechanical drawings.Joseph Farey (1796–1829) Made many mechanical and miscellaneous drawingsJohn Flaxman (1855–1826) SculptureJohn Fletcher Not identified ChemistryHenry Fuseli (1741–1825) (Painting/Art?) In American prospectus onlyJames Glenie (1750–1817) Artillery carriages, Cannon, FortificationGeorge Glover (fl 1800) Naval Architecture. The writer is probably pseudonymous.Agnes C. Hall (1777–1846)French School of EngravingJohn Haslam (1764–1844) Mental derangementAlexander Henderson (1780–1863) MedicineThomas Dix Hincks (1767–1857) GeographyPrince Hoare (1755–1834) SculptureHenry Howard (1769–1847) Drawing, and various articlesLuke Howard (1772–1864) MeteorologyJames Ivory (1765–1842) Conic Sections, Curves, GeometryJohn Jones (1766? – 1827) Grammar, LanguageJeremiah Joyce (1763–1816) Various articlesPatrick Kelly (1756–1842) Coinage, Exchanges, Standard, WeightKirkman (Dates not known) Made drawingsCharles Konig (1774–1851) Gem, Gem engraving, Geognosy, MineralogyJohn Landseer (1769–1852) Schools of engravingWilliam Lawrence (1783–1867) Anatomy, Human and Comparative PhysiologyJohn Leslie (1766–1832) (? Mathematics)Wilson Lowry (1762–1824) Made drawings for some and engraved very numerous plates.James Macartney (1770–1843) Comparative Anatomy, PhysiologyAndrew Mackay (1760–1809) NavigationBenjamin Heath Malkin (1769–1842) BiographiesAlexander Marcet (1770–1822) ChemistryJohn Milner (1752–1826) Gothic ArchitectureThomas Milton (1743–1827) Engraved Natural History PlatesEdward Moor (1771–1848) Indian MythologyWilliam Morgan (1750–1833) Annuities, InsuranceJune Z. Fullmer, Technology, Chemistry, and the Law in Early 19th-Century England, Technology and Culture Vol. 21, No. 1 (Jan. 1980), pp. 1–28, at p. 1 note 1. Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press on behalf of the Society for the History of Technology. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3103985David Mushet (1772–1847) Blast and Blowing Furnaces, Iron manufactureGeorge Nayler (1764?–1831) HeraldryPeter Nicholson (1765–1844) Architecture, Carpentry, Joinery, Panorama, Perspective, Projection, Proportional Compasses, Shadows, Stereography, Stereometry.John Opie (1761–1807) PaintingWilliam Young Ottley (1771–1836) PaintingH. Parker Prosody, VersificationSamuel Parkes (1761–1825) ManufacturesRichard Pearson (1756–1836) Topics not stated (?Medicine)William Pearson (1767–1847) Astronomical, Chronometrical, Optical etc. Instruments, Horology, Planetary Machines, Watch etcThomas Phillips (1770–1845) PaintingJohn Pond (1767–1836) Algebra, Analysis, Astronomy, Degree, Diophantine, Force etcWilliam Porden (1755–1822) ArchitectureWilliam Owen Pughe (1759–1835) English HistoryAbraham Rees (1743–1825) Gen. Editor; Atmosphere, Hydrostatics and various articlesThomas Rees (1777–1864) Biography, various articles, examined and described the platesPeter Mark Roget Sweating sickness, symptom, synocha, synochus, tabes, tetanus.John Russell (1745–1806) PaintingGeorge Sanderson ArchJohn Scott (1774–1827) Engraved Natural History PlatesJames Edward Smith (1759–1828) Botanical Biography, Botany D to the endJames Sowerby (1757–1822) Made Natural History drawingsJonathan Stokes (1755–1831) Botany [sic] (Printed in the Prospectus in error)Joseph Strutt (1749–1802) AntiquitiesGeorge Stubbs (1724–1806) Made DrawingsCharles Sylvester (? – 1828) Chemistry, Definite Proportions, File Cutting, Galvanism, Pottery, Voltaism etc.W. Symonds Topics not statedCharles Taylor( – 1816) BleachingJohn Taylor (1779–1863) MiningWilliam Thomas (Dates not known)Topics not statedJames Thomson (1779–1850) Cotton spinning and manufactureWilliam Tooke (1744–1820) Geography (?of Russia)Sharon Turner (1768–1847) English HistoryEdmund Turrell (d. 1835) EnamellingThomas Webster (1773–1844) Architecture, AquatintaWilliam Wood (1745–1808) Botany B to end of CWilliam Woodville (1752–1805) Botany A

List of contributors by topic The previous list has been sorted into subject areas. It allows contributors of many single articles, usually of monograph length, to be identified. However a number of subjects, such as architecture and chemistry, have multiple contributors, so individual attributions are not possible.