Introduction

Biography

James was the son of Charles Low­ell and Har­ri­ette Brack­et Spence. He mar­ried twice, to Ma­ria White (1844) and Franc­es Dunlap (1857).

A prom­in­ent po­et and au­thor, he gra­du­at­ed from Har­vard Col­lege in 1838, and was ad­mit­ted to the bar in 1840.

He be­came a Pro­fes­sor of Mod­ern Lang­uag­es and Li­te­ra­ture at Har­vard in 1855, suc­ceed­ing Hen­ry Wads­worth Long­fel­low.

He ed­it­ed the At­lan­tic Month­ly (1857–62) and the North Am­er­ican Re­view (1863–72). He al­so served as Am­er­ican min­is­ter to Spain (1877–80) and am­bas­sa­dor to Eng­land (1880–85).

Works

• The Vi­sion of Sir Laun­fal, 1848
• The Big­low Pa­pers, 1848 & 1862
• Among My Books, 1870 & 1876
• Political Es­says, 1888