The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen

The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen Synopsis

Although James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–94) was a successful barrister, he also had a prolific journalistic and literary output throughout his legal career. He contributed more than three hundred essays on subjects such as law and ethics to the Saturday Review within the space of a decade, and more than eight hundred articles for the Pall Mall Gazette. This biography was written by his younger brother, the equally successful critic and editor Leslie Stephen (1832–1904), and published in 1895. Stephen paints an affectionate portrait of this leading Victorian legal and literary figure. He begins with a brief history of their influential family and his brother's early life and education, before discussing Fitzjames' professional successes, including his work on the Indian Viceroy's Council, the publication of his highly regarded History of the Criminal Law of England (1883) and his eventual appointment as a judge.