Campbell, James Dykes, 1838-1895

Scottish merchant and biographer of Coleridge.

Campbell was born on Nov. 2, 1838 in Port Glasgow, Scotland; attended the burgh elementary school, and in 1852 entered a merchant's office; in 1854 became employed at Cochrane and Co. pottery manufacturers in Glasgow; in 1860 the company sent him to Toronto for two years, where he also had time to undertake literary research; started his own business in Glasgow in 1862; in 1873 he became a partner in Ireland, Fraser, & Co., the leading mercantile firm in Mauritius; retired in 1881, and settled in England the following year, where he met Robert Browning and was associated with the Athenaeum; he wrote a biographical introduction to a new edition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poetry in 1893, which reappeared in 1894 as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a narrative of the events of his life (1894); Campbell died on June 1, 1895; part of Campbell's literary research involved gathering material about Charles Lamb, who was born on Feb. 10, 1775 in London; worked from 1792-1825 as a bookkeeper in the East India House; became best known as an essayist, using the pen name Elia; published books include Blank verse (1798) and Tales from Shakespear (1807); he died in Edmonton, England on Dec. 7, 1834.

Biography

Campbell was born on November 2, 1838 in Port Glasgow, Scotland; attended the burgh elementary school, and in 1852 entered a merchant's office; in 1854 became employed at Cochrane and Company pottery manufacturers in Glasgow; in 1860 the company sent him to Toronto for two years, where he also had time to undertake literary research; started his own business in Glasgow in 1862; in 1873 he became a partner in Ireland, Fraser, & Company, the leading mercantile firm in Mauritius; retired in 1881, and settled in England the following year, where he met Robert Browning and was associated with the Athenaeum; he wrote a biographical introduction to a new edition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poetry in 1893, which reappeared in 1894 as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a narrative of the events of his life (1894); Campbell died on June 1, 1895; part of Campbell's literary research involved gathering material about Charles Lamb, who was born on February 10, 1775 in London; worked from 1792-1825 as a bookkeeper in the East India House; became best known as an essayist, using the pen name Elia; published books include Blank verse (1798) and Tales from Shakespear (1807); he died in Edmonton, England on December 7, 1834.