author
James Gillman
1782–1839
Best remembered as the doctor and close companion who cared for Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Highgate, he also left behind one of the earliest substantial biographies of the poet. His life sits at an interesting meeting point of medicine, friendship, and literary history.
1 Audiobook
The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1838
by James Gillman
About the author
An English physician and biographer, James Gillman is chiefly known for the part he played in the later life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In 1816 Coleridge came to live with Gillman in Highgate, and Gillman became his long-term medical attendant and friend.
That unusually close relationship gave Gillman a rare view of one of the great figures of English Romanticism. He later wrote The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a work that became an important early source on the poet's life and character.
Although Gillman is not widely read today for his own sake, his name remains closely tied to Coleridge and to the story of the poet's final years. Through his medical care, his household's support, and his biography, he helped preserve a vivid picture of Coleridge for later generations.