author
b. 1833
Best known for compiling Life and Literature, he gathered more than two thousand quotations and excerpts from ancient and modern writers into one wide-ranging reference work. Little biographical information is easy to confirm, which gives his surviving book an old-fashioned air of quiet dedication.
John Purver Richardson is the credited author of Life and Literature, a large anthology of quotations and literary extracts arranged alphabetically. The work was published in 1910 under the name J. Purver Richardson and was later preserved by Project Gutenberg, which helped keep it available for modern readers.
Rather than being known for a broad literary career, Richardson seems to be remembered mainly through this single ambitious compilation. In the book’s preface, he presents it as the result of many years of research and reading, suggesting a patient compiler with a strong love of literature and moral reflection.
Beyond that, reliable details about his life are scarce in the sources I could confirm here. Even so, Life and Literature gives a clear sense of his interests: he valued wisdom, memorable phrasing, and the pleasure of bringing a wide range of voices together in one place.