See L. G. Tyler, The Cradle of the Republic: Jamestown and James River (Richmond, 2nd ed., 1906); Mrs R. A. Pryor, The Birth of the Nation: Jamestown, 1607 (New York, 1907); and particularly S. H. Yonge, The Site of Old “James Towne,” 1607-1698 (Richmond, 1904), embodying the results of the topographical investigations of the engineer in charge of the river-wall built in 1900-1901.
JĀMĪ (Nūr-ed-din ‘Abd-ur-raḥman Ibn Aḥmad) (1414-1492), Persian poet and mystic, was born at Jām in Khorasan, whence the name by which he is usually known. In his poems he mystically utilizes the connexion of the name with the same word meaning “wine-cup.” He was the last great classic poet of Persia, and a pronounced mystic of the Sūfic philosophy. His three diwans (1479-1401) contain his lyrical poems and odes; among his prose writings the chief is his Bahāristān (“Spring-garden”) (1487); and his collection of romantic poems, Haft Aurang (“Seven Thrones”), contains the Salāmān wa Absāl and his Yūsuf wa Zalīkha (Joseph and Potiphar’s wife).
On Jāmī’s life and works see V. von Rosenzweig, Biographische Notizen über Mewlana Abdurrahman Dschami (Vienna, 1840); Gore Ouseley, Biographical Notices of Persian Poets (1846); W. N. Lees, A Biographical Sketch of the Mystic Philosopher and Poet Jami (Calcutta, 1859); E. Beauvois s.v. Djami in Nouvelle Biographie générale; and H. Ethé in Geiger and Kuhn’s Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, ii. There are English translations of the Bahāristān by E. Rehatsek (Benares, 1887) and Sorabji Fardunji (Bombay, 1899); of Salāmān wa Absāl by Edward FitzGerald (1856, with a notice of Jāmī’s life); of Yūsuf wa Zalīkha by R. T. H. Griffith (1882) and A. Rogers (1892); also selections in English by F. Hadland Davis, The Persian Mystics: Jāmī (1908). (See also [Persia]: Literature.)
JAMIESON, JOHN (1759-1838), Scottish lexicographer, son of a minister, was born in Glasgow, on the 3rd of March 1759. He was educated at Glasgow University, and subsequently attended classes in Edinburgh. After six years’ theological study, Jamieson was licensed to preach in 1789 and became pastor of an Anti-burgher congregation in Forfar; and in 1797 he was called to the Anti-burgher church in Nicolson Street, Edinburgh. The union of the Burgher and Anti-burgher sections of the Secession Church in 1820 was largely due to his exertions. He retired from the ministry in 1830 and died in Edinburgh on the 12th of July 1838.
Jamieson’s name stands at the head of a tolerably long list of works in the Bibliotheca britannica; but by far his most important book is the laborious and erudite compilation, best described by its own title-page: An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language; illustrating the words in their different significations by examples from Ancient and Modern Writers; shewing their Affinity to those of other Languages, and especially the Northern; explaining many terms which though now obsolete in England were formerly common to both countries; and elucidating National Rites, Customs and Institutions in their Analogy to those of other nations; to which is prefixed a Dissertation on the Origin of the Scottish Language. This appeared in 2 vols., 4to, at Edinburgh in 1808, followed in 1825 by a Supplement, in 2 vols., 4to, in which he was assisted by scholars in all parts of the country. A revised edition by Longmuir and Donaldson was issued in 1879-1887.
JAMIESON, ROBERT (c. 1780-1844), Scottish antiquary, was born in Morayshire. In 1806 he published a collection of Popular Ballads and Songs from Tradition, Manuscript and Scarce Editions. Two pleasing lyrics of his own were included. Scott, through whose assistance he received a government post at Edinburgh, held Jamieson in high esteem and pointed out his skill in discovering the connexion between Scandinavian and Scottish legends. Jamieson’s work preserved much oral tradition which might otherwise have been lost. He was associated with Henry Weber and Scott in Illustrations of Northern Antiquities (1814). He died on the 24th of September 1844.