John William Cousin (1849–1910) was a British writer, editor and biographer. He was one of six children born to William and Anne Ross Cousin, his mother being a noted hymn-writer, in Scotland.[1] A fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries[2] and secretary of the Actuarial Society of Edinburgh,[3] he revised and wrote the introduction for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Evangeline in 1907.
John W. Cousin | |
|---|---|
| Born | John William Cousin 1849 Scotland |
| Died | December 1910 United Kingdom |
| Pen name | John W. Cousin, J.W. Cousin |
| Occupation | Writer, editor |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Genre | Non-fiction, biographies, encyclopedias, literary criticism |
| Notable works | A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature |
However, he is best known as the editor of A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, a collection of biographical entries on numerous authors and literary figures, originally published in 1910 for J.M. Dent's "Everyman Library" series.[1] The bulk of his work was later used by David Clayton Browning to compile the Everyman's Dictionary of Literary Biography which was released in 1958, and subsequently reprinted during the 1960s and 1970s.
Bibliography
edit- Evangeline (1907, originally written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
- A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature (1910)
References
edit- ^ a b Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 426.
- ^ Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland Transactions of the Faculty of Actuaries. Vol. 1. No. 4. London: Charles & Edwin Layton, 1902. (pg. 1)
- ^ The Insurance Yearbook, 1898–9. [Life and Miscellaneous]. 26th ed. New York: The Spectator Company, 1898. (pg. 129)
External links
edit
Works related to John William Cousin at Wikisource- Works by John William Cousin at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about John William Cousin at the Internet Archive