Alexander Macbean
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
Alexander Macbean (died 1784) was a British writer and amanuensis, known as a lexicographer.
Life
Macbean worked as amanuensis for Ephraim Chambers; and then was one of the six amanuenses employed Johnson's Dictionary. About 1758 he obtained, through Samuel Johnson, the post of librarian to Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll.{{cite DNB|wstitle=Macbean, Alexander|volume=34}}
On the duke's death in 1761, Macbean was left without income, and he became mainly dependent on charity. In 1775, when Macbean was starving, as his former colleague Peyton had already done, Johnson who found him unworldly gave him four guineas and collected more; and in 1780, through his influence with Lord Thurlow, obtained him admission as a poor brother to the London Charterhouse. There he died on 26 June 1784.
Works
- A Synopsis or short Analytical View of Chemistry (1743), translated from the German of Gottfried Rothe, a student of Georg Ernst Stahl.{{cite book|author=Karl Hufbauer|title=The Formation of the German Chemical Community, 1720-1795|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbX8REu4UeQC&pg=PA173|year=1982|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04415-9|page=173}}
- Dictionary of Ancient Geography (1773), preface by Johnson.
- A Dictionary of the Bible (1766).{{cite book|author=Alexander MacBean|title=A Dictionary of the Bible; or, An Explanation of the Proper Names and Difficult Words in the Old and New Testament.|url=https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_a-dictionary-of-the-bibl_macbean-alexander_1766 |year=1766 |publisher=Alexander MacBean }}
He also compiled numerous indexes, including that to Johnson's edition of the English Poets.
Notes
{{reflist}}
Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Macbean, Alexander|volume=34}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macbean, Alexander}}
Category:Year of birth missing