James White was an English advertising agent, author and lifelong friend of

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

Personal life

He was the son of Samuel and Mary White and was baptised at the Church of St. John in Bedwardine, Worcester, on 17 April 1775. At the age of 8, he was admitted to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

on the Presentation of Thomas Coventry on 19 September 1783. He left the school on 30 April 1790 in order to become a clerk in the treasurer's office at the school. While at the school, White formed a close and long-lasting friendship with Charles Lamb, who was the same age as he. Charles Lamb refers to James White in many of his letters and the

Essays of Elia ''Essays of Elia'' is a collection of essays written by Charles Lamb; it was first published in book form in 1823, with a second volume, ''Last Essays of Elia'', issued in 1833 by the publisher Edward Moxon. The essays in the collection first ...

(in particular the essay entitled ''The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers''). White developed a fascination with the character of

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

and was even known to dress up and go about "in character". This led to him writing and publishing in 1796 his only known book: ''Original Letters, etc, of Sir John Falstaff and his friends'', a collection of letters supposed to have been written by Falstaff and his friends, found in an archive kept by

Mistress Quickly Mistress Nell Quickly is a fictional character who appears in several plays by William Shakespeare. She is an inn-keeper, who runs the Boar's Head Tavern, at which Sir John Falstaff and his disreputable cronies congregate. The character app ...

's heirs. White died at his house in Burton Crescent (since renamed Cartwright Gardens in London on 13 March 1820. He was survived by his wife Margaret (daughter of Robert Faulder the bookseller) and three children. After his death, his business seems to have been initially managed by his wife, and was later taken over by his son Robert Faulder White. James White is a great-great-grandfather of the author T. H. White (1906–1964) and

Roger Bushell Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell (30 August 1910 – 29 March 1944) was a South Africa, South African aviator in the United Kingdom, British Royal Air Force. He masterminded the famous Stalag Luft III#The great escape, "Great Escape" from ...

Publishing

In 1800 he founded an advertising company in Warwick Square, which subsequently moved in 1808 to 33

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and became R. F. White & Son Ltd. This is considered to be the UK's first advertising agency and the advent of

copywriting Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called Copy (publishing), copy or sales copy, is written content t ...

Notes

Citations

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20090315011049/http://www.hatads.org.uk/hat/newsitem.php?A=138&C=22 The History of Advertising Trust *https://www.angelfire.com/nv/mf/elia1/chimney.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:White, James 1775 births 1820 deaths People educated at Christ's Hospital Writers from Worcester, England English male writers Advertising agencies of the United Kingdom

Personal life

Publishing

Notes

Citations

Further reading

External links