John Dover Wilson

Rebekah Owens (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

Born 13 Jul 1881
Died 15 Jan 1969
Activity 1901-1969

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Bibliographer
Literary Critic/ Historian

Resources

Wilson's Works

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John Dover Wilson was an educator and Shakespearean scholar. He was born in Surrey on 13 July, 1881 to Edwin Wilson, an engraver and scientific illustrator, and Elizabeth Dover. Wilson was educated at Lancing College, then at Gonville and Caius, Cambridge. After producing a prize-winning essay on the Elizabethan poet and dramatist John Lyly, he was commissioned by one of the judges, Adolphus William Ward, to write two entries for the

Cambridge History of English Literature

. “The Marprelate Controversy” appeared in volume 3 (1909) and “The Puritan Attack Upon the Stage” in volume 6 (1910).

Wilson’s first forays into scholarship were thus not literary, but historical and centred on oppositional politics. During his early career he was also a witness to a significant political

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1533 words

Citation: Owens, Rebekah . "John Dover Wilson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 March 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4753, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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