Fields, James Thomas, 1817-1881

James Thomas Fields, American publisher and author, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1817. At the age of 17, he went to Boston to clerk in a booksellers shop. While clerking, he often wrote for newspapers and in 1839 he became junior partner in the publishing and bookselling firm known after 1846 as Ticknor and Fields, and after 1868 as Fields, Osgood & Company. He was the publisher of several prominent contemporary American and British writers. Besides just publishing the authors, he and his wife Annie Adams Fields, would have the writers to their home in Boston for dinners and literary discussions; the couple became close friends with several of the authors. From 1862 to 1870, Fields was editor of The Atlantic monthly, which his firm published. He retired in 1871 and focused on lecturing and writing. He died in Boston in 1881. Annie, Fields' second wife, was also a published author.

From the description of James Thomas Fields Papers and Addenda, 1767-1914 (bulk 1850-1914) (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 82953271

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