Jarves, James Jackson (1818–1888)

US editor, art critic, and collector. He was the editor of the first weekly newspaper in the Hawaiian Islands, Polynesian 1840–48. In the 1850s he settled in Florence, Italy, where he collected and wrote about art. He served there as the US vice consul 1880–82. In addition to his superb collection of early Italian paintings (which he donated to Yale), he collected Venetian glass and textiles, among other artifacts.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, was educated privately, and travelled extensively.