author
James Harold Romain
A late-19th-century writer remembered for a thoughtful, wide-ranging book on gambling, he approached the subject through history, ethics, and human behavior. His work has lasted mainly through that single notable title, which still draws readers interested in the moral questions surrounding chance and risk.
1 Audiobook
Gambling; or, Fortuna, her temple and shrine. The true philosophy and ethics of gambling
by James Harold Romain
About the author
James Harold Romain was a writer best known for Gambling; or, Fortuna, Her Temple and Shrine: The True Philosophy and Ethics of Gambling, published in Chicago in 1891. The book examines gambling not just as a pastime, but as a social and moral force, blending argument, history, and reflection in a style typical of serious nonfiction from the period.
Available records located during research suggest he was born in Toronto in 1850 and died in Cincinnati in 1921. Beyond those basic facts, biographical details are scarce, and he appears to be known today chiefly through this surviving work rather than through a large published career.
That relative obscurity gives his writing a certain curiosity value now. Readers who come across Romain today are usually looking for an older perspective on luck, vice, and ethics, and his book offers exactly that: a window into how one 19th-century author tried to make sense of gambling's hold on human life.