Edward Sell (priest)
Canon Edward Sell (24 January 1839 – 15 February 1932) was an Anglican orientalist, writer and missionary in India. Biography. Sell was born on 24 January 1839 in Wantage in Berkshire. He was educated at the Church Missionary College in Islington, London, completing his studies in 1862. In 1874 Sell was appointed as a fellow of Madras University and he received a Bachelor of Divinity from Lambeth in 1881. Sell received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh in 1907. He was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society and was awarded the Kaiser-i -Hind Gold Medal in 1906. He was also appointed "Chairman of the Arabic, Persian, and Hindustani Studies". After finishing his studies in 1862, Sell was ordained deacon and in 1867, priest. Sell served as the examining chaplain for the Bishop of Madras and in 1889 he was appointed canon at St George's Cathedral, Madras. He is commemorated by a plaque in the Cathedral. In 1865 Sell became the principal of the Harris High School for Muslims in Madras in which capacity he continued until 1881. It was also during this time that he was secretary of the Church Missionary  Society for the dioceses of Madras and Travancore. He officially retired from the CMS in 1923, but continued to live in India, involving himself in scholarship and ministry. When he died in Bangalore on 15 February 1932, he was working on his fiftieth book. Sell wrote extensively on Islam and biblical subjects, in particular, the Old Testament. His works include: