author
1788–1863
An inventive Edinburgh craftsman and storyteller, this 19th-century writer moved easily between practical trades and lively historical and adventure writing. His life was as unusual as his books, spanning bookbinding, printing experiments, and a long list of eccentric projects.
Born in 1788 at Old Lauriston, Edinburgh, John Howell trained as a bookbinder and later worked in the city’s book trade and printing world. According to the Dictionary of National Biography, he spent time with the university printers Stevenson and made improvements in stereotyping before returning to bookbinding, where he was known for inventing a well-known "plough" for cutting book edges.
Howell became famous in Edinburgh as a resourceful odd-job inventor and repairer. He ran a shop in Frederick Street, and later in Rose Street, where he called himself a "polyartist". Accounts of his life describe him trying out a flying machine, experimenting with an underwater device shaped like a fish, and working as an amateur doctor and dentist—signs of a restless, curious mind that seems to have carried over into his writing.
His books include An Essay on the War-galleys of the Ancients (1826) and The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk (1829). He also edited Journal of a Soldier of the 71st Regiment, 1806–1815 and The Life of John Nichol, the Mariner, and was credited with writing several of Wilson’s Tales of the Borders. He died in Edinburgh on April 4, 1863.