Author: Kirby, Thomas
Biography:
KIRBY, Thomas (fl 1802-9)
Undoubtedly hard-working and well-meaning, Kirby would not have been pleased by the very brief notice in CR of his elegy and essay on Pitt the Younger (1759-1806), the reviewer observing that Pitt was not known for his appreciation of literary genius and that “We cannot, therefore, pity him at being insulted with a dirge like this.” But Kirby’s livelihood did not depend on literature. He was a teacher of mathematics who had been recruited by a publishing consortium in London to revise and update the American Nathaniel Bowditch’s (1773-1838) standard work on nautical astronomy—which he successfully did, under the title The Improved Practical Navigator (1802 and later editions). By the time of the third and last edition in 1809, he identified himself on the title-page as a “private teacher of mathematics and nautical astronomy” with a home address at 90 Great Titchfield St., St. Mary-le-Bow, London. Nothing is known of his origins or later life, and no other publications are associated with him. (CR 8 [1806], 330; ancestry.com 29 Dec. 2024; findmypast.com 29 Dec. 2024) HJ