F. Somner (Frederick Somner) Merryweather

Frederick Somner Merryweather, who published as F. Somner Merryweather, was an English author born in 1827 and died in 1900. Library and archival records connect his name most strongly with Bibliomania in the Middle Ages, a work on book collecting, scribes, and monastic libraries that helped preserve interest in the history of reading and libraries.

His published work shows a broad Victorian curiosity. In addition to Bibliomania in the Middle Ages, records for his books include Dies Dominicae, Glimmerings in the Dark; or, Lights and Shadows of the Olden Time, Lives and Anecdotes of the Misers, and Half a Century of Kingston History. Across these titles, he comes across as a writer drawn to forgotten habits, eccentric characters, and the textures of everyday life in earlier centuries.

Some modern catalogs and book databases describe him not only as an author of general literature but also as a newspaper editor. That detail appears in secondary sources, so it is best taken with a little caution, but it fits the energetic, anecdotal style of the works still associated with him today.