author
J. S. (John Smythe) Memes
A Scottish minister and man of letters, he wrote lively biographies, art history, and translations that brought European lives and ideas to English-language readers. His books range from Napoleon and Josephine to Antonio Canova and the early history of photography.
1 Audiobook
History of Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture
by J. S. (John Smythe) Memes
About the author
Born in 1795 and dying in 1858, John Smythe Memes was a Scottish author and Church of Scotland minister. Reliable library and reference records identify him both as a clergyman and as the writer behind a varied body of 19th-century nonfiction.
His books show an unusually wide range of interests. He wrote on art in History of Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture, published a biography of Canova, and translated memoirs connected with Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress Josephine. He is also linked with one of the earliest English books on the daguerreotype, showing how quickly he engaged with new cultural and scientific developments.
That mix of religion, scholarship, translation, and popular history gives his work its appeal today. He wrote for curious general readers, and his subjects often sit at the crossroads of European art, biography, and early modern media.