James Marshall

* 05.05.1805 in Ballynahinch (Ireland); ✝ 28.12.1881 in Weimar

Scholar, Private Secretary, Teacher

Biography

Marshall grew up in humble circumstances in Scotland and in 1818 accepted a position as apprentice with a Glasgow book-dealer’s. He meanwhile pursued his private studies of various modern and ancient languages and literatures, writing not just English but also German poems.  After completing his apprenticeship he moved to Rotterdam, where his first post was that of secretary in the English Consulate. Shortly thereafter he was summoned to the Royal Court in the Hague to teach English literature. After Princess Sophie married Carl Alexander, who was later to be Archduke of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach, in 1842 Marshall accompanied her as private secretary to Weimar, where, after prolonged illness, he died in 1881.

In Weimar Marshall not only made contact with one-time companions of the Goethe he so deeply admired, he also put his extensive expertise at the disposition of the Court Theatre for its productions of Shakespeare plays. He was one of the founding- and governing board member of the German Shakespeare Society.

Literature

Secondary Literature

• N.N.:  ‘James Marshall’, Shakespeare-Jahrbuch, 17 (1882). Pp. 278-280.
• Röder-Bolten, Gerlinde: George Eliot in Germany, 1854-55: 'Cherished Memories'. The Nineteenth Century Series. Aldershot, 2006. Pp. 95-96.

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