George H. (George Henry) Sandison

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in January 1850, George H. Sandison built a career in journalism before becoming known as an author and compiler of practical reference books. Sources agree that he worked in newspaper editing and later wrote or compiled books aimed at general readers.

His best-known title is How to Behave and How to Amuse: A Handy Manual of Etiquette and Parlor Games, published in the 1890s and still preserved by the Library of Congress and Project Gutenberg. He is also associated with religious and instructional works, including books on Bible questions and shorthand, which suggests a writer interested in useful knowledge rather than literary fame.

Much about his later life is hard to confirm from the sources available here, so the picture that emerges is of a working editor-author from the late nineteenth century: practical, versatile, and focused on books people could actually use.