George P. James

George P. James. The String of Pearls

London:  Bentley,1832.

 

Biographical Sketch of George P. James

George Payne Rainsford James

George Payne Rainsford James was born in Hanover Square in London on August 9, 1799. His father was an American Revolutionary war veteran and physician, and his mother died when he was a young child. At a young age, he began learning several Eastern and Western languages, among them, Persian, French, Italian, and German, (although he failed to master Arabic). At age thirteen, however, he told his father he had decided not to obtain a university education and instead, requested his permission to join the navy, to which his father replied: "You may go into the army if you'd like - it's the life of a dog, but the navy is a life of a damned dog, and you shan't try it" (Joline 8). Thus, James joined the army and was wounded in battle.

After his release from the army, James had a series of encounters with prominent writers which helped launch his literary career. He had met Lord Byron as a boy, but it was his encounter with Washington Irving during his travels through Europe that encouraged him to write his first novel, Richelieu, in 1825. Published in 1829, Richelieu was publicly acclaimed, particularly by Sir Walter Scott, who after having read it "advised him to adopt literature as a profession" (Joline 12). Only three years after finishing his first novel, he married Frances Thomas, a daughter of a physician, with whom he had two children.

By 1830, James's career had begun in earnest, averaging two to three novels per year, including works such as The String of Pearls (1832), The Gentleman of the Old School (1839), and Castleneau; or The Ancient Regime (1841). James's career continued to expand and blossom when, during the final years of William IV's reign, he was appointed Historiographer Royal. This post not only increased James's professional career, leading him to write historical texts as well as novels, but it also widened his social sphere, giving him connections with members of the aristocracy such as the Duke of Wellington.

Throughout the 1840s, he continued his prolific career, publishing dozens of novels, and no fewer than nine separate titles in 1847 alone. In 1850, James moved to the United States, settling at first in New York, then in Massachusetts, where he became active in the literary community, meeting Nathanial Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Soon after, in 1852, he was appointed the post as the British Consul, in Norfolk, Virginia. Gradually, his health deteriorated, and as a result, he requested to obtain the General Consul at Venice, in the hopes that the Mediterranean climate would improve his health. The request granted, James moved to Venice in 1858 where he published The Cavalier, his 91st and last publication. On June 9, 1860, James died of an apoplectic stroke in Venice, though the exact location of his interment is still disputed.

The epitaph, written by Walter Savage Landor, reads as follows:
     George Payne Rainsford James. British Consul General
     in the Adriatic. Died in Venice, on the 9th of June, 1860.
     His merits as a writer are known wherever the English
     language is, and as a man they rest on the hearts of many. (17)

Works Cited:

Ellis, S.M. The Solitary Horseman; or The Life & Adventures of G.P.R. James. Kensington: Cayme Press, 1927.
Joline, Adrian Hoffman. George Payne Rainsford James: A Writer of Many Books. Privately published, 1906.

-- Prepared by Whitney Helms, Dave Madden, Joe Rein, University of Nebraska, Spring 2006
© Whitney Helms, Dave Madden, Joe Rein, 2006.

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Biographical information specific to The String of Pearls

George P. James was born in 1799 and began life with an unhappy and neglected childhood, as his mother died when he was young, and his father devoted little attention to him during his youth. The only means of happiness for James was having The Arabian Nights read to him by an older brother, who eventually tiring of it, insisted that James learn to read himself. Desirous to finish the novel, James taught himself to read and acquainted himself with the mysterious and fascinating East depicted in the novel. As The Arabian Nights was James's favorite novel, it is not surprising that he wrote his own version of a romanticized and exotic East in The String of Pearls before turning seventeen.

James's interest in the East was manifested in his success of mastering Persian and some Arabic, and the familiarity with these languages was the only personal knowledge he seemed to have had associated directly with the East. An avid traveler in his day, James traveled extensively throughout Europe and the United States, but never eastward. Thus, having little personal experience with the East, it is likely that James, having read The Arabian Nights with a Western perspective, continued to entertain and believe the stereotypical image of the East as a mysterious, unknown, and romantic land. As a result, his version of The Arabian Nights, The String of Pearls, consists of stories which associate the East with magic, monsters, potions, and the unbelievable, which perpetuate and emphasize the age-old stereotype that the East is a strange and enigmatic Other in relation to the West.

James most likely did not intend to continue a stereotypical myth of a people and land he had never experienced. Rather, it was intended to produce the same kind of entertainment The Arabian Nights had provided for him as a young boy. In relation to the several other works James produced in his lifetime, The String of Pearls stands apart in its setting and genre and remains a work which served as a close reminder of the only light in a dark childhood.

-- Prepared by Whitney Helms, University of Nebraska, Spring 2006.
© Whitney Helms, 2006.