James Thomas Fields (December 31, 1817 – April 24, 1881) was an American publisher, editor, and poet. His business,
Ticknor and Fields
Ticknor and Fields was an American publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as a bookstore in 1832, the business would publish many 19th century American authors including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, ...
, was a notable publishing house in 19th century Boston.
Biography
Early life and family
He was born in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire on December 31, 1817 and named James Field; the family later added the "s". His father was a sea captain and died before Fields was three.
[Miller, Edwin Haviland. ''Salem Is My Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne''. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1991: 281. ] He and his brother were raised by their mother and her siblings, their aunt Mary and uncle George. At the age of 14, Fields took a job at the
Old Corner Bookstore
The Old Corner Bookstore is a historic commercial building located at 283 Washington Street at the corner of School Street in the historic core of Boston, Massachusetts. It was built in 1718 as a residence and apothecary shop, and first became ...
in Boston
[ as an apprentice to publishers Carter and Hendee. His first published poetry was included in the ''Portsmouth Journal'' in 1837 but he drew more attention when, on September 13, 1838, he delivered his "Anniversary Poem" to the Boston Mercantile Library Association.
]
Publishing career
In 1839, he joined William Ticknor
William Davis Ticknor I (August 6, 1810 – April 10, 1864) was an American publisher in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and a founder of the publishing house Ticknor and Fields.
Life and work
William Davis Ticknor was born on August 6, 1810, on th ...
and became junior partner in the publishing and bookselling firm known after 1845 as Ticknor and Fields
Ticknor and Fields was an American publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as a bookstore in 1832, the business would publish many 19th century American authors including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, ...
. Ticknor oversaw the business side of the firm while Fields was its literary expert. He became known for being likable, for his skill at finding creative talent, and for his ability to promote authors and win their loyalty. With this company, Fields became the publisher of leading contemporary American writers, with whom he was on terms of close personal friendship. He was also the American publisher of some of the best-known British writers of his time, some of whom he also knew intimately. The company paid royalties to these British authors, including Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
and William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
, at a time when other American publishers pirated the works of those authors. The first collected edition of Thomas de Quincey's works (20 vols., 1850–1855) was published by his firm. Ticknor and Fields built their company to have a substantial influence in the literary scene which writer and editor Nathaniel Parker Willis
Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...
acknowledged in a letter to Fields: "Your press is the announcing-room of the country's Court of Poetry."
Sometime in 1844, Fields was engaged to Mary Willard, a local woman six years younger than him. Before they could be married, she died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
on April 17, 1845. He maintained a close friendship with her family and, on March 13, 1850, married her 18-year-old sister Eliza Willard at Boston's Federal Street Church. Also sick with tuberculosis, she died on July 13, 1851. Grief-stricken, he left the United States for a time and traveled to Europe.
In 1854, Fields married Annie Adams
Asaneth Ann Adams Kiskadden (November 9, 1848 – March 17, 1916), credited as Annie Adams, was an American actress.
Early and personal life
Adams was the daughter of Julia Ann ( Banker) and Barnabas Lothrop Adams. In 1869, she married James ...
, who was an author herself. Mrs. Fields was instrumental in helping Mr. Fields establish literary salons at their home at 37 Charles Street in Boston, where they entertained many well-known writers. One such writer was Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.
He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
. After Hawthorne's death in 1864, Fields served as a pallbearer for his funeral alongside Amos Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and a ...
, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...
, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...
, and Edwin Percy Whipple
Edwin Percy Whipple (March 8, 1819 – June 16, 1886) was an American essayist and critic.
Biography
He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1819. For a time, he was the main literary critic for Philadelphia-based ''Graham's Magazine''. Lat ...
. In 1867, he performed the same role after the death of Nathaniel Parker Willis
Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...
, along with Holmes, Longfellow, James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that ...
, and Samuel Gridley Howe
Samuel Gridley Howe (November 10, 1801 – January 9, 1876) was an American physician, abolitionist, and advocate of education for the blind. He organized and was the first director of the Perkins Institution. In 1824 he had gone to Greece to ...
.
Ticknor and Fields purchased ''The Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' for $10,000 and, about two years later in May 1861, Fields took over the editorship from Lowell. At a New Year's Eve party in 1865, he met William Dean Howells
William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...
and 10 days later offered him a position as assistant editor of the ''Atlantic''. Howells accepted but was somewhat dismayed by Fields's close supervision.
Ticknor died in 1864, leaving Fields the senior partner for the firm. Fields was less concerned with the retail store owned by the company and wanted to focus on publishing. On November 12, 1864, he sold the Old Corner Bookstore and moved Ticknor and Fields to 124 Tremont Street.
In 1868 the business became Fields, Osgood, and Company, recognizing James R. Osgood.
On New Year's Day, 1871, Fields announced his retirement at a small gathering of friends.
Later life and death
No longer involved with editorial duties, he then devoted himself to lecturing and writing. He also edited, with Edwin Percy Whipple
Edwin Percy Whipple (March 8, 1819 – June 16, 1886) was an American essayist and critic.
Biography
He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1819. For a time, he was the main literary critic for Philadelphia-based ''Graham's Magazine''. Lat ...
, ''A Family Library of British Poetry'' (1878).
Fields became increasingly popular as a lecturer throughout the 1870s. In May 1879, Fields suffered a brain hemorrhage and collapsed before a scheduled lecture at Wellesley College. By autumn he seemed to have recovered. In January 1881, he gave what would be his final public lecture, coincidentally at the Mercantile Library Association, the organization which hosted his first public reading. Fields died in Boston on April 24, 1881. He is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
.
His wife, Annie Fields, was devastated and demanded friends not mention him and she gradually cut herself off from others. Her friend, writer Celia Thaxter
Celia Thaxter (née Laighton; June 29, 1835 – August 25, 1894) was an American writer of poetry and stories. For most of her life, she lived with her father on the Isles of Shoals at his Appledore Hotel. How she grew up to become a writer is d ...
told her, "don't shut yourself away... or you will die a thousand deaths of silence." Shortly after, she began a friendship with Sarah Orne Jewett
Theodora Sarah Orne Jewett (September 3, 1849 – June 24, 1909) was an American novelist, short story writer and poet, best known for her local color works set along or near the southern coast of Maine. Jewett is recognized as an important ...
, and the two became companions for the rest of their lives.
Writing
In addition to his work as a publisher and editor, Fields was also a writer. His chief works were the collection of sketches and essays entitled ''Underbrush'' (1877) and the chapters of reminiscence composing ''Yesterdays with Authors'' (1871), in which he recorded his personal friendship with William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
, William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
, Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.
He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
, and others.
Fields also wrote poetry. A number of his works are collected in his book ''Ballads and Verses'' published in 1880. This volume contains the poem "The Ballad of the Tempest", which includes the famous lines:
:"We are lost!" the captain shouted
:As he staggered down the stairs
Legacy
James T. Fields was known in his lifetime as one of the most successful and shrewd book promoters, working at a time when bribery was typical in the publishing culture.[ Hawthorne said he owed his success as a writer to him: "I care more for your good opinion than for that of a host of critics, and have excellent reason for so doing; inasmuch as my literary success, whatever it has been or may be, is the result of my connection with you".][
Fields was particularly successful as a publisher because of his ability to build close relationships with writers. As author ]Rebecca Harding Davis
Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (June 24, 1831 – September 29, 1910) was an American author and journalist. She was a pioneer of literary realism in American literature. She graduated valedictorian from Washington Female Seminary in Pennsylvania ...
said, he was "the shrewdest of publishers and kindest of men. He was the wire that conducted the lightning so that it never struck amiss." He also knew the tastes of the reading public. Fields was reputedly able to ascertain what book a visitor to the Old Corner Bookstore would purchase within 10 minutes of arrival.[Goodman, Susan and Carl Dawson. ''William Dean Howells: A Writer's Life''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005: 122. ]
After Fields's death, his widow Annie Adams Fields wrote the biography ''Memoir of James T. Fields, by his Wife'' (Boston, 1881) and ''Authors and Friends'' (Boston, 1896), which also reflects on his life. His friend Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...
wrote a poem called "'' Auf Wiedersehen''" dedicated to him. Fields, along with Longfellow, is featured in the first and third of Matthew Pearl's novels, ''The Dante Club
''The Dante Club'' is a mystery novel by Matthew Pearl and his debut work, set amidst a series of murders in the American Civil War era. It also concerns a club of poets, including such historical figures as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wen ...
'' (2003) and '' The Last Dickens'' (2009). Fields is also mentioned in the 1994 film version of '' Little Women''.
References
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Further reading
*
External links
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Eli Siegel on Satire
Comment on 'The Owl Critic,' satiric poem by James Thomas Fields
Ballads and other verses
by James T. Fields at the University of Michigan Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, James Thomas
1817 births
1881 deaths
American book publishers (people)
American essayists
19th-century American poets
American male poets
American magazine editors
American magazine publishers (people)
The Atlantic (magazine) people
Businesspeople from Boston
19th-century American people
Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery
19th-century American journalists
American male journalists
American male essayists
19th-century American male writers
19th-century essayists
19th-century American businesspeople
People from Portsmouth, New Hampshire