Surname: Fields Forename(s): James Thomas b. 31 December 1817. d. 24 April 1881. Nationality: American. VIAF.
Publisher, editor, poet, writer, and lecturer. Husband of Eliza Willard and, after
her death, writer Annie Adams Fields. Began his distinguished publishing career as
clerk for publisher and bookseller William D. Ticknor, and encouraged Ticknor to publish
the first authorized American edition of Tennyson’s poems in 1842. Became Ticknor’s
junior partner in 1843 and, in 1854, established a major new publishing house with
Fields (Ticknor & Fields) that became America’s leading literary publisher. Editor
of the Atlantic Monthly from 1861. Poetry volumes include Poems (1849) and Ballads and Other Verses (1881). Biographical information: ANB. (AC)