author
James Glass Bertram
1824–1892
A Scottish writer and journalist with an unusually varied life, he moved from magazine work to the stage, then back into books and newspapers. His memoirs and lively nonfiction capture the literary and theatrical world of 19th-century Britain from the inside.
2 Audiobooks
About the author
James Glass Bertram (1824–1892) was a Scottish author and journalist whose career ranged across publishing, bookselling, theater, and newspaper editing. He was apprenticed to Tait's Edinburgh Magazine, later joined a company of strolling players, and eventually returned to Edinburgh to work as a bookseller and newsagent.
He went on to edit the North Briton and later the Glasgow News before becoming a freelance journalist. His writing covered a wide range of subjects, but he is especially remembered for memoir-style works such as Some Memories of Books, Authors, and Events and Glimpses of Real Life as Seen in the Theatrical World and in Bohemia, which draw on his own experiences in literary and theatrical circles.
Bertram's life gave him a close view of 19th-century print culture, and that firsthand perspective gives his work much of its charm. Readers interested in Victorian journalism, publishing, and theater may find in him an observant guide to a busy and changing literary world.