W. E. (William Elliott) Doubleday

William Elliott Doubleday was a British author and public librarian who is listed by Wikisource as living from 1866 to 1959, with later ties to Nottingham Local Studies Library. The same source notes that he contributed articles to the Dictionary of National Biography, where his entries were signed with the initials “W. E. D.”

His published work ranged widely. Early on, he wrote the novel The Heiress of Haddon (1889). Later, he turned strongly toward library practice and guidance, editing A Primer of Librarianship and writing A Manual of Library Routine, books that reflect his practical interest in how libraries were organized and managed.

He also wrote The Keats House (Wentworth Place) Hampstead: An Historical and Descriptive Guide, showing an interest in literary places and cultural history as well as librarianship. Taken together, his work suggests a writer who cared about books not just as stories, but as part of public knowledge and local memory.