6 JANUARY 1917, Page 11

Mr. Reginald J. Smith, K.C., whose tragic death—the result of

ill-health and overwork—occurred last week, had been since 1899 the head of the publishing then of Smith, Elder, and Co. In this position he faithfully and genially maintained the high traditions of a house founded by his namesake and father-in-law, the late Mr. George Smith, the publisher and friend of Charlotte Brontli, Thackeray, and Browning, who founded the Cornhill and the Pali, Mall Gazette and left an abiding memorial of his munificent:enter- prise in the Dictionary of National Biography.