James Wood (12 October 1820 – 17 March 1901) was a Scottish writer, editor, and

Free Church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions fr ...

minister.Stirling 1902, pp.vii–viii

Life

Born in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, Wood studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and was ordained as a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, following the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of S ...

. His admiration for

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

and

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

may have contributed to his failure to secure the ministry of a congregation. Instead, he earned a living as a writer and editor and spent most of his life in Edinburgh. Wood is described by P. J. E. Wilson as " that most conscientious of pedants". In his anonymous ''The Strait Gate'' (1881), Wood says of himself that he should not be classed with the

High church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

men, the Evangelicals, or the Broad churchmen. He had "no faith whatsoever" in the first group, "no true conception" of the second, and "a measure of sympathy" with the third, but added "…yet there are drawbacks which make it impossible for me to hail their movement with any warmth."

Publications

In 1867, Wood's ''Stories from Greek Mythology'' was published in London. Wood edited '' Nuttall's Standard Dictionary'' and ''

The Nuttall Encyclopaedia ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. In 1881, he published anonymously ''The Strait Gate and Other Discourses, with a Lecture on Thomas Carlyle, by a Scotch Preacher'', and in 1882 made the authorized translation of

Auguste Barth Auguste Barth (born in Strasbourg 22 May 1834; died in Paris 15 April 1916) was a French orientalist. Biography He is best known by his work in connection with the religions of India. His volume, ''Les religions de l'Inde'' (Paris, 1879), was ...

's ''Religions of India''.Auguste Barth, ''The Religions of India. Authorised Translation by Rev. J. Wood'' (London: Houghton Mifflin, 1882) In 1893, after working on it for three years, he published his '' Dictionary of Quotations'', later renamed as ''Nuttall's Dictionary of Quotations''. He was also the author of Bagster & Sons' ''Helps to the Bible'' and a ''Carlyle School Reader''.

References

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External links

* * * Scottish encyclopedists Scottish lexicographers Scottish translators Scottish editors 1820 births 1901 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Leith 19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 19th-century British translators 19th-century lexicographers {{editor-stub