James Campbell Reddie

James Campbell Reddie (26 November 1807 – 4 July 1878) was a 19th-century collector and author of pornography, who, writing as "James Campbell", worked for the publisher William Dugdale. According to Henry Spencer Ashbee, Reddie was self-taught and viewed his works from a philosophical point of view.

Personal life

Reddie was homosexual and never married or had any known children. The November 1880 edition of the pornographic periodical The Pearl, which was published by William Lazenby, featured an item supposedly written by Reddie's landlord, Adamo Pedroletti, which stated "Mr. Reddie used to call me Petro ... I was continually afraid he would bring himself or both of us into strouble ... Mr. Reddie couldn't even bear for a woman to touch him". Pedroletti also detailed their mutual seduction of a fifteen-year-old boy, and Pedroletti's of the boy's mother.

In 2007 the bibliographical website Scissors & Paste Bibliographies published what are alleged to be hitherto unknown letters from Reddie to Henry Spencer Ashbee. One of the letters claims that Pedroletti attempted to blackmail Reddie over his relationship with the boy. A further letter states, with reference to Reddie's

Occupations

Writer to the Signet

Reddie was known by his full legal name in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he worked as a Writer to the Signet, beginning his apprenticeship under David Cleghorn on 10 December 1829. He continued in this profession until he relocated to England in 1849, where he took the name James Campbell, dropping his father's surname in favor of his mother's.

Writer and translator

The first appearance of a "James Campbell" in England was in the 1851 English census, in which he was recorded as living at 32 White Hart Street in Westminster, and employed as a compositor (typesetter). In the 1861 census he was a lodger at 24 Manor-terrace in Newington, London, employed as a writer and translator. In 1871 he was living with the Adamo Pedroletti family, at 44 Brecknock Road in Islington, London, England, and was at 26 Brecknock Crescent in 1875.

Reddie ("Campbell") is best known as an author and translator of erotica. Many of the original texts and translations of erotic literature published by William Lazenby and William Dugdale were the work of "James Campbell". One of the earliest publications featuring the work of "Campbell" (still in Scotland at the time) was Dugdale's risqué newspaper "The Exquisite." Published from 1842 to 1844, The Exquisite contained "... a great number of tales from the French, with a few from the Italian, translated for the most part, if not entirely, by James Campbell ..."

According to Henry Spencer Ashbee, Reddie was a serious, exacting collector and bibliographer of erotica. When he acquired a new book he would immediately collate it, investigate every available authority on it, and compare the book page by page and word by word with any other issue of the same work. If he was unable to acquire a scarce book, he frequently made copies by hand. He never refused to lend a book from his vast collection, even though often the borrower would forget to return it. Reddie was always liberal with his knowledge of erotica, imparting information gave him great satisfaction, and he spared neither time and labor in his research.

Personal life Reddie was homosexual and never married or had any known children. The November 1880 edition of the pornographic periodical The Pearl, which was published by William Lazenby, featured an item supposedly written by Reddie's landlord, Adamo Pedroletti, which stated "Mr. Reddie used to call me Petro ... I was continually afraid he would bring himself or both of us into serious trouble ... Mr. Reddie couldn't even bear for a woman to touch him". Pedroletti also detailed their mutual seduction of a fifteen-year-old boy, and Pedroletti's of the boy's mother.

In 2007 the bibliographical website Scissors & Paste Bibliographies published what are alleged to be hitherto unknown letters from Reddie to Henry Spencer Ashbee. One of the letters claims that Pedroletti attempted to blackmail Reddie over his relationship with the boy. A further letter states, with reference to Reddie's homosexuality: "As you know, Ashbee, I've never shielded my own preferences from my most intimate friends".

Death In April 1877, Reddie decided to leave England and return to Scotland due to ill-health. On 25 July 1877, shortly before his departure, he sold his collection of erotica to Ashbee for £300. He also gave Ashbee his three volume manuscript Bibliographical Notes on Books, which was an invaluable resource for Ashbee in preparing the second and third volumes of his Bibliography of Prohibited Books (vol.1: 1877, vol.2: 1879, vol.3: 1885).

On 4 July 1878, in Crieff, Perth, Scotland, James Campbell Reddie died from a "general or wasting palsy" (a progressive muscle degeneration and weakness, eventually leading to death), first diagnosed fifteen months earlier.

Books

Reddie's works include The Amatory Experiences of a Surgeon (1881), The Sins of the Cities of the Plain (1881, with Simeon Solomon) and The Mysteries of Verbena House (1882, with George Augustus Sala). homosexuality]]: "As you know, Ashbee, I've never shielded my own preferences from my most intimate friends".

Death

In April 1877, Reddie decided to leave England and return to Scotland due to ill-health. On 25 July 1877, shortly before his departure, he sold his collection of erotica to Ashbee for £300. He also gave Ashbee his three volume manuscript Bibliographical Notes on Books, which was an invaluable resource for Ashbee in preparing the second and third volumes of his Bibliography of Prohibited Books (vol.1: 1877, vol.2: 1879, vol.3: 1885).

On 4 July 1878, in Crieff, Perth, Scotland, James Campbell Reddie died from a "general or wasting palsy" (a progressive muscle degeneration and weakness, eventually leading to death), first diagnosed fifteen months earlier.