BUCK, CHARLES (1771–1815), theological writer, minister of an independent congregation, first at Sheerness and afterwards in London, was author of a well-known work, of which many editions have appeared both in England and America, entitled ‘A Theological Dictionary, containing definitions of all theological and ecclesiastical terms; an impartial account of the several denominations that have subsisted in the religious world; remarkable transactions and events in ecclesiastical history, and a biographical sketch of writers in theological science.’ The first edition appeared in London in 2 vols. 8vo, 1802. Buck was also author of a ‘Collection of Anecdotes,’ 1799, which has gone through many editions, and of several other religious works, less known. He died 11 Aug. 1815.
[Catalogue of Advocates' Library, Edinburgh; Biog. Dict. of Living Authors, 1816; Herzog and Schaff's Religious Encyclopædia, 1883.]
'BUCK, Sir GEORGE. [See Buc, Sir George.]
BUCK, JOHN WILLIAM (d. 1821), a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, was admitted as student 7 July 1813. He reported the first forty-four pages of a volume of English reports of cases in bankruptcy decided by Lord Eldon, Sir Thomas Plumer, and Sir John Leach, from Michaelmas term 1816 to Michaelmas term 1820. The volume was published in Buck's name and entitled vol. i., although no other volume appeared under the same title. The last English edition was issued in 1820. Buck died on 23 Aug. 1821.
[Marvin's Legal Bibliography; Saule's Lawyers' Reference Manual, p. 84; Gent. Mag. 1821; Lincoln's Inn Register.]
BUCK, SAMUEL (1696–1779), engraver and topographical draughtsman, drew and engraved 428 views of the ruins of all the noted abbeys, castles, &c., together with four views of seats and eighty-three large general views of the chief cities and towns of England and Wales. The smaller series of abbeys, &c., were first issued in parts, each containing twenty-four views. From 1711 to 1726 Buck was his own engraver as well as draughtsman. From 1727 to 1753 he was assisted in both branches of the work by his brother, Nathaniel Buck, who died many years before him. From the title to the fifth part, issued in 1730, and dated from the ‘Golden Buck in Warwick Street near Golden Square, St. James's,’ we learn that their summers were devoted to making their drawings, and their winters to working up the plates at home, which were always finished within the twelve months. The first two sets were those for Yorkshire, 1711–25, and Lincoln and Nottinghamshire, 1726 (S. Buck del. et sculp.). The earliest joint productions of the two brothers were those for Cheshire, Derby, and Lancashire, 1727, followed by those for Durham and Northumberland, 1728; Northampton, Oxford, and Warwick, 1729; Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, and Huntingdon, Leicester, and Rutland, 1730; Hereford, Shropshire, Stafford, and Worcester, 1731; Gloucester, Monmouthshire, and Wiltshire, 1732; Berkshire, 1732–3; Dorset, Hampshire, and Isle of Wight, 1733; Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, 1734; Kent, 1735; two large views of Plymouth, 1736; Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Surrey, and Sussex, 1737; Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk, 1738 (after this period the prints were dated from No. 1 Garden Court, Middle Temple); Cumberland and Westmoreland, 1739; South Wales, 1740–1; and North Wales, 1742. About sixty-three of the larger views of cities were done at the same time. Among the remaining twenty done later may be mentioned Ely, 1743; Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1745; two of Richmond in Yorkshire; and the four famous large views of London and Westminster from Bankside, all of which bear the date of 1749; the whole series terminating with a second large view of Birmingham, 1753. The whole of these views were afterwards republished in a collective form as ‘Buck's Antiquities or Venerable Remains of above 400 Castles, &c., in England and Wales, with near 100 Views of Cities,’ London, R. Sayer, 3 vols. folio; preceded by historical accounts and the double portraits of S. and N. Buck (J. Highmore pinx.; R. Houston sculp.), 1774. The prints were finished with the graver in a stiff manner, the backgrounds slightly etched. Samuel Buck's original drawings were sometimes hasty and slight, but many of them were elaborately finished with pen and ink and tinted. Some of these were exhibited at the Spring Gardens Exhibition in 1768, 1774, and at the Academy in 1775. Eleven of the larger drawings of cities were sold in London in 1882 and fetched high prices; among them was one of Oxford, never engraved. These last are now preserved at 53 Fleet Street, London, formerly the Golden Buck, the sign being evidently borrowed. The value and real use of Buck's labours can be perhaps better appreciated by the antiquary and the ecclesiologist than the print-collector. As a painstaking delineator of architectural remains long since destroyed Buck has never been surpassed for truthfulness of detail, often conveyed at the sacrifice
