James Ballantyne (15 January 1772 – 26 January 1833) was a Scottish solicitor, editor and publisher who worked for his friend Sir Walter Scott. His brother John Ballantyne (1774–1821) was also with the publishing firm, which is noted for the publication of the Novelist's Library (1820), and many works edited or written by Scott. Early life James was born in Kelso, Scottish Borders in 1772, the oldest son in a family of successful merchants. He attended Kelso Grammar School where he met Sir Walter Scott for the first time in 1783. Scott lived with his aunt briefly in Kelso when they met. They shared a love of literature. James went on to attend Edinburgh University to study law. He returned to Kelso in 1795 to become a solicitor. Publishing Although James was not raised in a printing family, he opened a printing office in 1796. On 13 April 1797, the first edition of the pro-Tory newspaper, The Kelso Mail, was published in which James was also the editor. Due to the newspaper being only weekly, he desired to work with those in the literary field who could use his services on the days he wasn't printing the Mail. In 1799, he begged Scott to write a few paragraphs for the newspaper on legal questions of the day. Scott then persuaded James to publish books as well as newspapers. That same year, James secretly printed An Apology for Tales of Terror and The Eve of St John, which gave a start to Scott's writing career. This was the beginning of a partnership that would continue until Scott's death in 1832. Impressed with the typographical excellence of the first two published pamphlets, Scott offered James the rights to publish a collection of Border ballads that he had begun collecting. This collection was printed in 1802 as Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, which garnered great acclaim across England. It brought amazement that such quality printing was being done in such a small town. After this success, Scott urged James to relocate to Edinburgh. After training his younger brother, Alexander, to run the Kelso Mail, James moved to Edinburgh in 1803 where he and Scott set up a publishing office that would publish Scott's works. Alexander would eventually purchase all the rights to the Kelso Mail in 1806. Scott loaned him £500 to help him get started and set up, which he did with