Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Read, Charles Anderson
READ, CHARLES ANDERSON (1841–1878), miscellaneous writer, born at Kilsella House, near Sligo, was son of a gentleman who, after losing a competency, became a schoolmaster and settled at Hilltown, near Newry. Charles was apprenticed to a merchant of Rathfriland, subsequently becoming partner in and eventually proprietor of the firm; but the venture failed about 1863, and Read obtained an appointment in the London publishing office of James Henderson. To Henderson's journal, ‘Young Folks,’ he contributed stories from the classics and several successful serial stories, two of which, ‘Aileen Aroon’ and ‘Savourneen Dheelish,’ were afterwards printed separately. He also wrote for the ‘Dublin University Magazine,’ and produced some passable verse. Deeply interested in Irish literature, he spent several years in the preparation of his best known work, ‘The Cabinet of Irish Literature,’ which was published between 1876 and 1878, in four volumes. The last volume was completed by Mr. T. P. O'Connor. It comprises selections from the writings of the most prominent Irish authors, from the earliest times to the date of publication. Read died prematurely on 23 Jan. 1878, at Thornton Heath, Surrey.
[Read's Cabinet of Irish Literature, vol. iv.; Brit. Mus. Cat.; O'Donoghue's Poets of Ireland, p. 211.]