author
Henry Glassford Bell
1803–1874
A Scottish man of letters who moved easily between literature and the law, he is remembered for poetry, historical writing, and a career that led him to the bench. His best-known work is a sympathetic life of Mary, Queen of Scots, written while he was still a young literary editor in Edinburgh.
2 Audiobooks
Life of Mary Queen of Scots, Volume 1 (of 2)
by Henry Glassford Bell
Life of Mary Queen of Scots, Volume 2 (of 2)
by Henry Glassford Bell
About the author
Born in Glasgow in November 1803, he was educated at the High School there and later at the University of Edinburgh. Early on he showed a strong pull toward writing and criticism, and while still young he became part of Edinburgh's lively literary world.
He edited the Edinburgh Literary Journal from 1829 to 1831 and published several books, including The Life of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1830 and volumes of verse such as Summer and Winter Hours. His writing mixed history, biography, and poetry, and his defense of Mary Stuart helped make his name among nineteenth-century readers.
After marriage, he gradually gave up literature as a profession and turned more fully to law. Called to the Scottish bar, he later served for many years as Sheriff-Substitute of Lanarkshire at Glasgow. He died in January 1874, leaving behind the picture of a writer who never entirely lost the literary energy of his youth.