James Ballantyne (15 January 1772 – 26 January 1833) was a Scottish solicitor, editor and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

who worked for his friend

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

. His brother John Ballantyne (1774–1821) was also with the publishing firm, which is noted for the publication of the ''Novelist's Library'' (1820), and many works edited or written by Scott.

Early life

James was born in Kelso, Scottish Borders in 1772, the oldest son in a family of successful merchants. He attended Kelso Grammar School where he met Sir Walter Scott for the first time in 1783. Scott lived with his aunt briefly in Kelso when they met. They shared a love of literature. James went on to attend

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

to study law. He returned to Kelso in 1795 to become a solicitor.

Publishing

Although James was not raised in a printing family, he opened a printing office in 1796. On 13 April 1797, the first edition of the pro-

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

newspaper, ''The Kelso Mail'', was published in which James was also the editor. Due to the newspaper being only weekly, he desired to work with those in the literary field who could use his services on the days he wasn't printing the ''Mail''. In 1799, he begged Scott to write a few paragraphs for the newspaper on legal questions of the day. Scott then persuaded James to publish books as well as newspapers. That same year, James secretly printed ''An Apology for Tales of Terror'' and ''The Eve of St John'', which gave a start to Scott's writing career. This was the beginning of a partnership that would continue until Scott's death in 1832. Impressed with the typographical excellence of the first two published pamphlets, Scott offered James the rights to publish a collection of Border ballads that he had begun collecting. This collection was printed in 1802 as '' Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'', which garnered great acclaim across England. It brought amazement that such quality printing was being done in such a small town. After this success, Scott urged James to relocate to Edinburgh. After training his younger brother, Alexander, to run the ''Kelso Mail'', James moved to Edinburgh in 1803 where he and Scott set up a publishing office that would publish Scott's works. Alexander would eventually purchase all the rights to the Kelso Mail in 1806. Scott loaned him £500 to help him get started and set up, which he did with two presses. These soon proved to be insufficient and the space too small with the amount of work coming in. He eventually settled his shop in Holyrood in 1805. Due to financial constraints despite the publisher's success, he joined into an ownership agreement with Scott who provided further capital. They had much success with the publishing of Scott's ''

Lay of the Last Minstrel ''The Lay of the Last Minstrel'' (1805) is a narrative poem in six cantos with copious antiquarian notes by Walter Scott. Set in the Scottish Borders in the mid-16th century, it is represented within the work as being sung by a minstrel late i ...

'', '' Marmion'' and a number of other best sellers. Ballantyne also printed several of

James Hogg James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...

's books, beginning with '' The Mountain Bard'' (1807).Hunter, Adrian (ed.) (2020), ''James Hogg: Contributions to English, Irish, and American Periodicals'', Edinburgh University Press, pp. 19 - 34 & 211, In 1815, James married Christina Hogarth, with the condition from her father that he was debt free. Scott relieved James from his debts in return for complete ownership of James Ballantyne and Co. and James would work as a salaried manager. He became theatre critic of the ''

Edinburgh Evening Courant The ''Edinburgh Courant'' was a broadsheet newspaper from the 18th century. It was published out of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Its first issue was dated February 14–19, 1705 and was sold for a penny. It was Scotland's first regional newsp ...

''. In 1817, James, along with his brother-in-law George Hogarth, purchased the ''Edinburgh Weekly Journal'' where he acted as editor. His brother, John, was the musical and drama critic while George managed the finances. 3,2,1 Heriot Row

In 1820 he was living at 10 St John Street off the Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town. Following the death of John Ballantyne in 1821, Scott promoted James from manager to personal agent and partner. This led to Alexander Ballantyne taking over the ''Weekly Journal'' as editor. While the company flourished, with business from both Scotland and England, and obtained a corner on printing legal stationary and official documents, debts continued to mount. Scott had been borrowing money to build

Abbotsford House Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...

, his personal residence, instead of putting the money towards their debt. After this change in circumstance James moved to a new house at 3

Heriot Row Heriot Row is a highly prestigious street in central Edinburgh, virtually unchanged since its original construction in 1802. From its inception to the present day in remained a top address in the city and has housed the rich and famous of the cit ...

: a ground floor and basement house within the end pavilion. A collapse of the financial and publishing industries in 1825–26, led to the bankruptcy of

Archibald Constable Archibald David Constable (24 February 1774 – 21 July 1827) was a Scottish publisher, bookseller and stationer. Life Constable was born at Carnbee, Fife, son of the land steward to the Earl of Kellie. In 1788 Archibald was apprenticed to P ...

's publishing company, which published Scott's works, and also led to the failure of Ballantyne Press. This left James with responsibility for half of the company's debt, forcing him to sell his family valuables and new home. Scott publicly acknowledged his role in the business and used proceeds from his books to pay for the debts incurred. The debt was around £120,000. Christina died in 1829 leaving James devastated. Scott died on 21 September 1832, followed shortly after by James on 26 January 1833. James's home address at the end of his life was 1 Hill Street in the centre of the city. Ballantyne Press was taken over by James's son, John Alexander Ballantyne, along with John Hughes. The company's printing works ceased operations in 1916.

Relationship with Sir Walter Scott

James and Scott worked together for over 30 years and had a close, yet complex relationship. James played a very big part in the success of Scott as a novelist. Not only did he print all of his works, he would also act as an editor. James would proofread, point out inconsistencies in the text details, fix grammatical and punctuation errors, give the whole work a scrubbing and offer advice on language and style. James was a personal agent and partner. Scott trusted James to make edits and amendments even throughout the production process. Scott nicknamed both brothers, James and John, after characters in Henry Carey's burlesque '' Chrononhotonthologos''. James was called '' Aldiborontiphoscophornio''.

Family

James is the brother of John Ballantyne, who was his business partner at times. His wife's brother, George Hogarth, was a well-known music critic and writer. He was the uncle, through his younger brother Alexander, of R. M. Ballantyne, Scottish author and artist. His niece, Catherine Hogarth, was the wife of

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 ...

In Fiction

The character Colbert (or 'Sleek Cobby') in ''John Paterson's Mare'', James Hogg's allegorical satire on the Edinburgh publishing scene first published in the ''Newcastle Magazine'' in 1825, is based on James Ballantyne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballantyne, James 1772 births 1833 deaths Scottish editors Scottish publishers (people) 18th-century Scottish people 19th-century Scottish people Burials at the Canongate Kirkyard