James Copland (1791–1870) was a medical practitioner and prolific writer. He moved from London to the British settlement of the Gold Coast on the West Coast of Africa. From there he wrote long essays for the 'Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine' on fever and the medical topography of the West Coast. In 1882 he became the editor of the 'London Medical Repository', and in 1825 he had the idea of producing an ‘Encyclopaediac Dictionary of the Medical Sciences’. Eventually, about 30 years later, the 'Dictionary of Practical Medicine' was published. This work contained an enormous volume of information, carefully selected from all existing sources and arranged into a compact and simple form. Copland wrote the dictionary without assistance and for many years, and earned a great deal of respect from his contemporaries.