Lawrence Burd

Lawrence Arthur Burd FRHistS FRPSL (sometimes "Laurence"; 1 June 1863 – 12 April 1931) was a British public school schoolmaster, expert on the works of Niccolò Machiavelli, and also notable as a philatelist.

Education and career Burd was educated at Clifton College under Dr. Percival and attended Balliol College, Oxford. He received his B.A. in 1885 and his M.A. in 1888. He spent a year travelling as a tutor to Lord Acton's son and in 1886 joined the teaching staff of Repton School where he stayed until he retired in 1923, becoming the Classical Sixth Form master. He stocked, almost from scratch, the school library there, making it one of the best in the country,

Burd remained an active historical scholar throughout his teaching career. He was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and he produced a new edited edition of Machiavelli's Il Principe (The Prince) (1891) which was highly praised in The English Historical Review and described as leaving nothing to be desired. He also wrote the chapter on "Florence and Machiavelli" in Lord Acton's The Cambridge Modern History (Volume 1, 1902). His collection of 8,000 Penny Blacks, each "scientifically classified and indexed", was sold to the stamp dealer Charles Nissen in 1919.

Burd was a member of the Royal Philatelic Society London from 1918

Death Burd died at home, at The Pastures, Repton, on 12 April 1931 aged 67. He was survived by his wife and two children.

Selected publications Il Principe by Niccolò Machiavelli. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1891. (Editor) (Introduction by Lord Acton)