Charles James Billson (1858–1932) was a translator, lawyer, and collector of folklore. Billson was born in Leicester, graduated from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, and died in Heathfield in Sussex. He is buried in All Saints Church yard. His works include a translation of Virgil's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of th ...

'', and a noted paper on the Easter Hare. He began a correspondence with

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...

, after requesting a reading list from the author, and introduced him to works by the then obscure poet James Thomson. Billson forwarded his correspondence to Melville's biographers. Charles J. Billson was President (1893–94) of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society."Presidents: Charles James Billson"
Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society His publications included:- * (1895) ''County Folk-Lore - Leicestershire and Rutland'', London, Folk Lore Society * (1920) '' Mediaeval Leicester'', Edgar Backus, Leicester * (1924) ''Leicester Memoirs'', Edgar Backus, Leicester

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Billson, Charles J. 1858 births 1932 deaths English male writers Translators of Virgil