The Origin of the word Snob

Can any of your valuable correspondents give me the origin or derivation of the word Snob? When, and under what peculiar circumstances, was it first introduced into our language? In the town in which I reside, in the north of England, the word Snob was formerly applied to a cobbler, and the phrase was in use, "Snip the tailor, and Snob the cobbler." I cannot discover how and why the word Snob was enlarged into its present comprehensive meaning. Explanations of many of the slang phrases met with in the dramatic works of the last century, such as, "Thank you, sir, I owe you one," "A Rowland for…