author
James Selwin Tait
1846–1917
A Scottish-born writer and businessman, he moved easily between fiction and practical subjects, publishing short stories as well as books on cattle ranching and banking. His work offers a curious mix of literary storytelling and firsthand views of late 19th-century economic life.
1 Audiobook
My Friend Pasquale, and Other Stories
by James Selwin Tait
About the author
Born in 1846, James Selwin Tait wrote across an unusually wide range of subjects. Surviving catalog and library records link him to fiction such as My Friend Pasquale, and Other Stories and to nonfiction works including The Cattle-Fields of the Far West and National Banks and Government Circulation: Retrospective and Prospective.
Some library notes also identify him as a partner in Tait, Denman & Co., a cattle ranch and range brokerage with ties to New York and Edinburgh. That business background helps explain why his books could shift so naturally from storytelling to practical writing about ranching, finance, and economic troubles.
He died in 1917. While detailed biographical sources appear to be limited, the books that remain show an author with broad interests and a talent for writing about both people and the systems that shaped their world.