author

Andrew James Symington

1825–1898

A Scottish man of letters who balanced business life with a deep love of books, travel, and history. His writing ranges from poetry to literary biography, with a memorable travel book inspired by a journey to the Faroe Islands and Iceland.

1 Audiobook

Pen and pencil sketches of Faröe and Iceland : With an appendix containing translations from the Icelandic and 51 illustrations engraved on wood by W. J. Linton

Pen and pencil sketches of Faröe and Iceland : With an appendix containing translations from the Icelandic and 51 illustrations engraved on wood by W. J. Linton

by Andrew James Symington

About the author

Born on July 27, 1825, Andrew James Symington was a Scottish writer associated with Paisley and Glasgow. Reliable reference sources describe him as a poet, translator, biographer, antiquarian, and merchant, showing how closely his literary work was tied to an active professional life outside literature.

He was educated at grammar school and joined his family's Glasgow business, while using his spare time to write. A trip to Iceland in 1859 led to one of his best-known books, Pen and Pencil Sketches of Faroe and Iceland (1862), a travel work that also included material translated from Icelandic. He also published poetry and wrote literary studies of major figures including Thomas Moore, William Cullen Bryant, and Samuel Lover.

Symington died in 1898. Although he is not widely known today, his books still appeal to readers interested in 19th-century travel writing, literary biography, and the curious, wide-ranging reading life of the Victorian period.