James Maidment

James Maidment (1793 in London – 1879 in Edinburgh) was a British antiquary and collector.

He passed through Edinburgh University to the Scottish bar, and was chief authority on genealogical cases.

He edited and published editions of ancient literary remains including A Book of Scottish Pasquils, 1568-1715, a selection from the papers of the family of Boyd of Kilmarnock from the 16th and 17th centuries, state papers and miscellaneous correspondence of Thomas, Baron Melros (from the 17th century), letters and state papers during the reign of King James the Sixth, chiefly from the manuscript collections of Sir James Balfour of Denmylne, constitutions, charters etc.

A collection of his poems is held at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.

Maidment showed an early taste for antiquarian and historical research, and he became friends with Sir Walter Scott, Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, and other men of letters.

He edited works for the Bannatyne, Maitland, Abbotsford, and Hunterian Clubs, and for the Spottiswoode Society; and he was the main editor of John Kay's Edinburgh Portraits, 2 vols.