KITTO, JoHN, was born at Plymouth, 4th 2-Tovember 18°4. The circumstances of his birth were very unfavourable to his education, and at the age of twelve Ile met with an accident which destroyed his hearing for life, and reduced hira almost to the condition of a deaf mr.re. Though he was the inmate of a poor and unhappy home, his juvenile energy rose above adversity ; and the poor, hungry, and ragged boy strove to maintain himself, and pay for a few books from a small cir culating library, by groping for old ropes and iron in Sutton-pool and selling them, and by painting rude labels for shop windows. On the t3th oi November 1819 he was seized and sent to the Plymouth Workhouse for pity's sake. In this place his powerful will soon asserted his position against older and stronger boys, and here he began a diary which is still preserved, and large excerpts from which have been printed in his life. It con tains many self-portraits, physical and mental, and shows the awakening of his mind to literary tastes and ambition. He learned shoemaking ; but was often so dull and dispirited that he called himself John the Comfortless,' and twice had thoughts of bringing his life to a premature end. Some gentlemen at length took notice of him, and he removed to Exeter to work as a dentist with Mr. Groves. His spirit was now growing in pious fervour, and, disabled though he was, Ile longed to be a missionary. In July 1825 he removed for this purpose to the missionary college at Islington, and having learned, among other things, to print, he was sent out to Malta, but returned to England in infirm health in 1829. Mr. Groves, who was now preparing to go as a missionary to the East, took Kitto with him as a tutor to his boys, and the party arrived at Bagdad in December of the same year. During his residence in this city Kitto had experience of the sad results of war, plague, and inundation in succession. After four years'
absence, and having passed through Trebizond and Constantinople on his return, he arrived in England in June 1833. Through the influence of friends, Ile at once set to work as a regular contributor to the Penny Magazine. One set of his papers bore the suggestive title of the Deaf Traveller.' The Pictorial Bible was commenced in the end of 1835. His experiences in the East gave him great delight in the work and some qualification for it, and it has passed through several editions. The Pictorial Bible was followed by the Pictorial History of Palestine and the Holy Land. After other smaller works had passed through his hands, the Cycloperclia of Biblical Literature was begun by him as editor, and brought to a conclusion in 1848. The present edition of it, formally the third edi tion, is, however, to a great extent a new work. Then Kitto projected the 70,7,-7/a/of Sacred Litera ture, which, having passed through the hands of various editors, still holds its way. His last and most popular work was the Daily Bible Illustra tions, completed in eight volumes. During- its progress his health gave way, and through the kind assistance of some friends, he was enabled to retire to Canstatt, in Germany, where he died on the 23th of November 1834. Dr. Kitto's services to the cause of Scripture learning were great in his own sphere. He revived and freshened the study of Eastern manners, and his orig,ination of this Cyclopmdia marks an epoch in the Biblical litera ture of our country. His life itself, with his physi cal defect and early privations, was a marvel of self-education and heroic perseverance. The Uni versity of Giessen in i844 gave him a theological diploma, though he was a layman. An interest ing autobiography is contained in his Lost Senses. — J. E.