User:JamesMSTaylor

James Taylor is a popular historian and lively lecturer who specialises in maritime art subjects.

James Taylor MA (Hons) FRSA studied at the Universities of St.Andrews and Manchester. Head of Victorian Paintings at Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers and from 1989-99, a curator of paintings, drawings and prints, exhibition organiser and corporate membership manager at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Contributed to and co-organised the Polar Exploration and SeaPower galleries and the exhibitions Henry VIII: A European Court in England, The Story of Yachting and Titanic.

Since leaving the National Maritime Museum appointed a NADFAS [National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts] lecturer. Publications include numerous articles on maritime art and the illustrated histories: Marine Painting, Studio Editions (1995) and Yachts on Canvas, Conway (1998), and the catalogue entries for the 2007 exhibition Rule Britannia! Art, Power and Royalty to mark the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. Received the Sir James Caird and Sir Geoffrey Callender awards for writing and supporting the National Maritime Museum’s public lecture programme.

Taylor's current publication is:

'''The Voyage of the 'Beagle'- Darwin's extraordinary adventure aboard FitzRoy's famous survey ship''' [published by Conway, part of Anova group]

Author James Taylor commemorates the 2009 anniversaries with a book that takes the title of one of Darwin's great works to present an updated and comprehensively illustrated version of the travels of the Beagle. He includes a full history of the storied vessel and the complete plans and designs of the ship, along with biographies of Darwin and Capt. Robert FitzRoy, the officers and crew, paintings by FitzRoy’s artists (who accompanied him on the voyage), portraits, caricatures, photographs, artefacts, and journal extracts brings this publication to life. In compiling this extraordinary wealth of materials, Taylor has woven together the salient strands of the Beagle story to produce a thoroughly engaging and highly informative book.