James Thomas Fields - Legacy

Legacy

Annie Adams Fields wrote the biography Memoir of James T. Fields, by his Wife (Boston, 1881) and Authors and Friends (Boston, 1896), which also mentions him. James T. Fields was known in his lifetime as one of the most successful and shrewd book promoters, working at a time when bribery was typical in the publishing culture. Hawthorne said he owed his success as a writer to him: "I care more for your good opinion than for that of a host of critics, and have excellent reason for so doing; inasmuch as my literary success, whatever it has been or may be, is the result of my connection with you".

Fields was particularly successful as a publisher because of his ability to build close relationships with writers. As author Rebecca Harding Davis said, he was "the shrewdest of publishers and kindest of men. He was the wire that conducted the lightning so that it never struck amiss." He also knew the tastes of the reading public. Fields was reputedly able to ascertain what book a visitor to the Old Corner Bookstore would purchase within 10 minutes of arrival.

After Fields's death, his friend Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem called "Auf Wiedersehen" dedicated to him. Fields, along with Longfellow, is featured in the first and third of Matthew Pearl's novels, The Dante Club (2003) and The Last Dickens (2009). Fields is also mentioned in the 1994 film version of Little Women.