Melville, Sir James

Melville, Sir James, 1535–1617, Scottish diplomat. He was a page to Mary Queen of Scots in France and, after her return to Scotland, was employed as Mary's representative at the court of Elizabeth I of England. He later performed important diplomatic missions for James VI. His memoirs, written after James's accession (1603) to the English throne (as James I) and first published in 1683, are one of the principal sources for the history of the period.

Bibliography

See edition by A. F. Steuart (1929).