James Cameron (1816-1882) was born in Scotland, but he moved to East Tennessee in 1856, at the age of forty, shortly after his marriage to Emma S. Cameron (1825-1907). Although they traveled extensively, they mostly lived in Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Lookout Mountain until 1868 when they moved first to Maine, and then to California. Cameron was a painter, and during his time, the few painters who earned a living from their art, were – like Cameron - itinerant and continually seeking patrons for their work. This book is so vivid and detailed because of the diaries by Emma S. Cameron which Moffatt found in the Mills College library in Oakland, California. “The accounts of their travels and experiences read almost like a nineteenth century travel book or a period novel, except that these writings offer a true account of events as lived by the participants. The scholarship is sound and well documented.”—Steve Cotham. The author is an emeritus professor of Art from the University of Tennessee. This is his fourth book.
Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2018. 367 pages with an Index, Bibliography, Notes, and both full-color and black-and-white photos. Hardback with dust jacket