author
James Samuelson
1829–1919
A Victorian writer with unusually wide interests, he wrote about science, society, religion, drink, and the Balkans with the eye of a traveler and a public thinker. His books reflect a life spent moving between industry, journalism, and ideas.
2 Audiobooks
Roumania Past and Present
by James Samuelson
The history of drink : A review, social, scientific, and political
by James Samuelson
About the author
Born in Hull in 1829 and later closely associated with Liverpool, James Samuelson built a varied career as an industrialist, editor, barrister, and prolific non-fiction writer. He helped found and edit science periodicals including The Popular Science Review and The Quarterly Journal of Science, and he was also called to the bar at the Middle Temple, though writing and public life remained central to his work.
His books ranged widely. He wrote natural history works such as The Honey-Bee, explored social and philosophical questions in titles like The History of Drink and Views of the Deity, and became especially known for books on southeastern Europe, including Roumania Past and Present. That mix of practical curiosity and big-question thinking gives his work a distinctive nineteenth-century energy.
Samuelson died in Sidmouth in 1918. The date range sometimes attached to his name in library records extends to 1919, but major biographical sources identify 14 April 1918 as the date of his death.