Bowyer Nichols (left), John William Mackail, and H.C. Beeching. Photo by Frederick Hollyer, circa. 1882. From The Earthly Paradise: Arts and Crafts by Wiliam Morris and his Circle in Canadian Collections (1993). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
John William Mackail O.M. (26 August 1859 - 13 December 1945) was a Scottish poet and academic, now best remembered as a Virgil scholar. He was also a literary historian and biographer.
J.W. Mackail, Thermopylae. Blackwell / Simpkin Marshall, 1881. Courtesy Internet Archive'.
Life[]
HeMackail was born in Ascog on the Isle of Bute, Strathclyde.
In his early career he worked at the United Kingdom Ministry of Education (1884-1919).
He was later Oxford Professor of Poetry (1906-1911), and President of the British Academy (1932-1936).
He was a friend of William Morris, and wrote Morris's 1899 official biography. He also published works on Virgil, the Latin poets, the Icelandic sagas, Shakespeare, and the sayings of Jesus.
Mackail married Margaret Burne-Jones (1866-1953), the only daughter of artist and designer Edward Burne-Jones. They lived in Kensington and later Holland Park. The couple's elder daughter, Angela Margaret, and their son, Denis George, are better known as the novelists Angela Thirkell and Denis Mackai.
He died in London.
Recognition[]
Mackail's poem Thermopylae won the Newdigate Prize for 1881.
He became a member of the Order of Merit in 1935.
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Thermopylae: Newdigate verse, 1881. Oxford, UK: Blackwell / London: Simkin, Marshall, 1881.
- Love in Idleness: A volume of poems (with H.C. Beeching & Bowyer Nicholls). London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1883.[1]
- Love's Looking Glass: A volume of poems (with Beeching and Nichols). London: Percival, 1891.[1]
Non-fiction[]
- The Life of William Morris. (2 volumes}, London & New York: Longmans, Green, 1899. Volume I, Volume II.
- William Morris: An address delivered at Kelmscott House Hammersmith Socialist Society. Hammersmith, UK: Hammersmith Publishing Society, 1902.
- The Parting of the Ways: An Address (given in the William Morris Labour Church at Leek, 5 October 1902), Hammersmith, UK: 1903.
- Socialism and Politics: An address and a programme. Hammersmith, UK: Hammersmith Publishing Society, 1903.
- Latin Literature. London: John Murray, 1905; New York: Macmillan, 1905.
- Homer: An address delivered on behalf of the Independent Labour Party. Hammersmith, UK: Hammersmith Publishing Society, 1905.
- The Progress of Poesy: An inaugural lecture delivered in the Sheldonian theatre on the 10th March 1906. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1906.
- William Morris and His Circle. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.
- The Springs of Helicon: A study of the progress of English poetry from Chaucer to Milton. London: Longmans, Green, 1909
- Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1963.
- Swinburne (University of Oxford lecture 30 April 1909). Oxford, UK: 1909.
- Lectures on Greek Poetry. London: Longmans Green, 1910.
- Lectures on Poetry. London & New York; Longmans, Green, 1911.
- Russia's Gift to the World.London & New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1915.
- The Study of Poetry. Houston, Rice Institute (pamphlet Vol II, No. 1), 1915.
- W.J. Courthope, 1842-1917. London: Humphrey Milford / Oxford University Press, for the British Academy, 1916.
- Pope: Pope: The Leslie Stephen lecture delivered before the University of Cambridge, 10 May 1919 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1916.
- The Case for Latin in Secondary Schools. London: John Murray, 1922.
- Virgil, and his meaning to the world of to-day. London & Sydney: George G. Harrap, 1922; Boston: Marshall Jones, 1922.
- The Alliance of Latin and English Studies. London: John Murray, 1923.
- Bentley's Milton (British Academy Warton Lecture). London: Published for the British Academy by Humphrey Milford / Oxford University Press, 1924.
- The Pilgrim's Progress (Royal Institution Lecture 14 March 1924). London & New York: Longmans, Green, 1924.
- Life and Letters of George Wyndham (2 volumes, with Guy Wyndham), 1924.
- Classical Studies. London: John Murray, 1925; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries, 1968.
- James Leigh Strachan-Davidson, Master of Balliol. A memoir. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1925.
- Studies of English Poets.London & New York: Longmans, Green, 1926; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries, 1968.
- Largeness in Literature. Oxfor, UK: J. Johnson, 1930.
- Coleridge's Literary Criticism (1931)
- Virgil (Henriette Hertz Trust Lecture of the British Academy). Published for the British Academy by Humphrey Milford / Oxford University Press, 1931.
- Virgil's Work: The Aeneid, Eclogues, Georgics (1934)
- Andrew Cecil Bradley, 1851-1935. London: Published for the British Academy by Humphrey Milford, 1935.
- Studies in Humanism. London & New York: Longmans, Green, 1938.
- Poems by Bowyer Nichols (1943)
- An Introduction to Virgil's Aeneid (1946)
- The Holy Bible for Young Readers, The New Testament
On Shakespeare[]
- Shakespeare after Three Hundred Years. London: Published for the British Academy by Humphrey Milford / Oxford University Press, 1916.
- Shakespeare (1923) Inaugural Address to the Australian English Association
- The Approach to Shakespeare. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1930.
Juvenile[]
- Biblia Innocentium: Being the story of God's chosen people before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ upon earth, written anew for children. Hammersmith, UK: Printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, 1892.
- published in U.S. as The Little Bible: Being the story of God's chosen people before the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ upon earth : written anew for children. New York: Doubleday, McClure, 1900.
- Biblia innocentium; part second, being the story of God's chosen people after the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ upon earth, written anew for children. London: Longmans, Green, 1901.
Translated[]
- The Aeneid of Virgil. London: Macmillan, 1885
- Virgil Eclogues and Georgics London: Rivington's, 1889.
- The Georgics of Virgil. (Portland, ME: Thomas B. Mosher, 1899
- Select Epigrams From The Greek Anthology. London & New York: Longmans, Green, 1890.
- Selections from the Georgics of Virgil (1948)
Edited[]
- The Sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ (. London: Reeves & Turner, 1894; Portland, ME: Thomas B. Mosher, 1905.
- The Hundred Best Poems (Lyrical): in the Latin language. London: Gowans & Gray, 1905.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[2].
Audio / video[]
- William Morris (CD). London: Electric Book Co., 1998.[2]
See also[]
| Preceded by A.C. Bradley |
Oxford Professor of Poetry 1906-1911 |
Succeeded by T. Herbert Warren |
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Search results = au:Henry Charles Beeching, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Oct. 11, 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ,Search results = au:John William Mackail, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Oct. 15, 2013.
External links[]
- Poems
- "An Etruscan Ring" in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895
- John William Mackail 1859-1945 at Poetry Nook ("Odysseus among the Phaiakians")
- John William Mackail at AllPoetry (2 poems).
- Prose
- Books
- Books
- John William Mackail at Amazon.com
- About
- "J.W. Mackail as Literary Critic" at the William Morris Society
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