James Howell

James Howell (born c. 1594, probably in Abernant, Carmarthenshire, Wales—died 1666, London) was an Anglo-Welsh writer known for his Epistolae Ho-Elianae, 4 vol. (1645–55), early and lively essays in letter form. Though vividly recording contemporary phenomena, they lack historical reliability because of plagiarizing and the addition of fictitious dates—despite the author’s position as historiographer royal, a post created for him at the Restoration (1660). He also did translations and wrote dictionaries, imaginative works, and political pamphlets.

Educated at Oxford University, Howell travelled abroad and, after holding minor government posts, became a member of Parliament (1627) for Richmond, Yorkshire. Imprisonment during 1643–51 for either debt or Royalist opinions caused him to follow writing as a profession. The standard edition of his work was edited by Joseph Jacobs, 2 vol. (1890–92).