JAMESON

jameson, anna brownell (1794-1860), british writer, was born in dublin on the 17th of may 1794. her father, denis brownell murphy (d. 1842), a miniature and enamel painter, removed to england in 1798 with his family, and eventually settled at hanwell, near london. at sixteen years of age anna became governess in the family of the marquis of winchester. in 1821 she was engaged to robert jameson. the engagement was broken off, and anna murphy accompanied a young pupil to italy, writing in a fictitious character a narrative of what she saw and did. this diary she gave to a bookseller on condition of receiving a guitar if he secured any profits. colburn ultimately published it as _the diary of an ennuyee_ (1826), which attracted much attention. the author was governess to the children of mr littleton, afterwards lord hatherton, from 1821 to 1825, when she married robert jameson. the marriage proved unhappy; when, in 1829, jameson was appointed puisne judge in the island of dominica the couple separated without regret, and mrs jameson visited the continent again with her father. the first work which displayed her powers of original thought was her _characteristics of women_ (1832). these analyses of shakespeare's heroines are remarkable for delicacy of critical insight and fineness of literary touch. they are the result of a penetrating but essentially feminine mind, applied to the study of individuals of its own sex, detecting characteristics and defining differences not perceived by the ordinary critic and entirely overlooked by the general reader. german literature and art had aroused much interest in england, and mrs jameson paid her first visit to germany in 1833. the conglomerations of hard lines, cold colours and pedantic subjects which decorated munich under the patronage of king louis of bavaria, were new to the world, and mrs jameson's enthusiasm first gave them an english reputation. in 1836 mrs jameson was summoned to canada by her husband, who had been appointed chancellor of the province of toronto. he failed to meet her at new york, and she was left to make her way alone at the worst season of the year to toronto. after six months' experiment she felt it useless to prolong a life far from all ties of family happiness and opportunities of usefulness. before leaving, she undertook a journey to the depths of the indian settlements in canada; she explored lake huron, and saw much of emigrant and indian life unknown to travellers, which she afterwards embodied in her _winter studies and summer rambles_. she returned to england in 1838. at this period mrs jameson began making careful notes of the chief private art collections in and near london. the result appeared in her _companion to the private galleries_ (1842), followed in the same year by the _handbook to the public galleries_. she edited the _memoirs of the early italian painters_ in 1845. in the same year she visited her friend ottilie von goethe. her friendship with lady byron dates from about this time and lasted for some seven years; it was brought to an end apparently through lady byron's unreasonable temper. a volume of essays published in 1846 contains one of mrs jameson's best pieces of work, _the house of titian_. in 1847 she went to italy with her niece and subsequent biographer (_memoirs_, 1878), geraldine bate (mrs macpherson), to collect materials for the work on which her reputation rests--her series of _sacred and legendary art_. the time was ripe for such contributions to the traveller's library. the _acta sanctorum_ and the _book of the golden legend_ had had their readers, but no one had ever pointed out the connexion between these tales and the works of christian art. the way to these studies had been pointed out in the preface to kugler's _handbook of italian painting_ by sir charles eastlake, who had intended pursuing the subject himself. eventually he made over to mrs jameson the materials and references he had collected. she recognized the extent of the ground before her as a mingled sphere of poetry, history, devotion and art. she infected her readers with her own enthusiastic admiration; and, in spite of her slight technical and historical equipment, mrs. jameson produced a book which thoroughly deserved its great success. she also took a keen interest in questions affecting the education, occupations and maintenance of her own sex. her early essay on _the relative social position of mothers and governesses_ was the work of one who knew both sides; and in no respect does she more clearly prove the falseness of the position she describes than in the certainty with which she predicts its eventual reform. to her we owe the first popular enunciation of the principle of male and female co-operation in works of mercy and education. in her later years she took up a succession of subjects all bearing on the same principles of active benevolence and the best ways of carrying them into practice. sisters of charity, hospitals, penitentiaries, prisons and workhouses all claimed her interest--all more or less included under those definitions of "the communion of love and communion of labour" which are inseparably connected with her memory. to the clear and temperate forms in which she brought the results of her convictions before her friends in the shape of private lectures--published as _sisters of charity_ (1855) and _the communion of labour_ (1856)--may be traced the source whence later reformers and philanthropists took counsel and courage. mrs jameson died on the 17th of march 1860. she left the last of her _sacred and legendary art_ series in preparation. it was completed, under the title of _the history of our lord in art_, by lady eastlake. jameson (or jamesone), george (c. 1587-1644), scottish portrait-painter, was born at aberdeen, where his father was architect and a member of the guild. after studying painting under rubens at antwerp, with vandyck as a fellow pupil, he returned in 1620 to aberdeen, where he was married in 1624 and remained at least until 1630, after which he took up his residence in edinburgh. he was employed by the magistrates of edinburgh to copy several portraits of the scottish kings for presentation to charles i. on his first visit to scotland in 1633, and the king rewarded him with a diamond ring from his own finger. this circumstance at once established jameson's fame, and he soon found constant employment in painting the portraits of the scottish nobility and gentry. he also painted a portrait of charles, which he declined to sell to the magistrates of aberdeen for the price they offered. he died at edinburgh in 1644.