Ruthven Todd, also known as R.T. Campbell, was a Scottish novelist, poet, artist, and scholar of William Blake. He was born in Edinburgh and spent his childhood in Scotland, where his father, William Walker Todd, was a successful architect. Many members of Todd's family held prestigious jobs in ministry, accounting, and the legal profession, which provided him with a privileged upbringing. He attended the Edinburgh College of Art and Fettes College, where he began to rebel against his family's expectations by becoming a drunk. His family sent him away to the Isle of Mull to work as a laborer, hoping it would straighten him out.
After leaving Mull, Todd moved to London and worked as an assistant secretary at the International Surrealist Exhibition in 1936. It was during this time that he became friends with a host of famous artists and writers, including Dylan Thomas, Joan Miro, David Gascoyne, Wyndham Lewis, and Salvador Dali. Todd's social circle and his experiences in London and Paris influenced his writing and art, and he became a member of the surrealist school of art.
In addition to his surrealist poetry and art, Todd also wrote detective fiction under the pseudonym R.T. Campbell. He was a prolific writer and produced a significant body of work during his career. Todd spent much of his life traveling and lived in various places, including Iowa, Fitzrovia London, El Terreno in Mallorca, Tilty Mill in Essex, Paris, and Galilea, a Spanish mountain village. He lived most of his final days in Galilea, where he continued to write and create art until his death.