SOURCE: Akrigg, G. P. V. “The Literary Achievement of King James I.” University of Toronto Quarterly 44, no. 2 (winter 1975): 115-29.

In the following essay, Akrigg assesses King James's achievement as an author, translator, critic, and patron of the arts.

Speaking at the University of Cambridge a good many years ago, Professor W. P. Ker assured his audience that King James I had ‘abilities which would have entitled him to be a Professor of Literature.’¹ Of James's pedagogical bent there has never been any doubt—he has been described as a Scottish dominie at heart. Characteristically, King James, daily visiting his young favourite, Robert Ker, while the young man was recovering from a leg injury, used the opportunity to teach him Latin. But a desire to teach is not enough to create a professor. There is a further consideration: the man must be a publishing scholar. With this in mind...