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William Minto

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William Minto (10 October 1845 - 1 March 1893) was a Scottish academic and literary critic.

William Minto

William Minto (1845-1893). Courtesy Institute for the Study of Scottish Philosophy.

Life[]

Overview[]

Minto was born at Alford, Aberdeenshire, and educated at Aberdeen and Oxford. He went to London, and became editor of the Examiner, and also wrote for the Daily News and the Pall Mall Gazette. In 1880 he was appointed professor of logic and literature at Aberdeen. He wrote a Manual of English Prose Literature (1873), Characteristics of the English Poets (1874), and a Life of Defoe for the Men of Letters Series.[1]

Youth and education[]

Minto was born 10 October 1845, near Alford, Aberdeenshire, the son of James Minto, by his wife Barbara (Copland).[2]

Gaining a bursary, he entered Aberdeen University in 1861. Here he steadily outdistanced competitors, until on earning an M.A. in 1865 he carried off the leading money prizes and took honours in 3 departments (classics, mathematics, and philosophy) — a feat unprecedented and still unique.[2]

In 1866 he went to Merton College, Oxford, but left the following year without taking a degree.[2]

Career[]

Returning to Aberdeen Minto became assistant to the professor of logic and English literature, Dr. Alexander Bain. It was while thus engaged that he turned his mind towards the study of English literature, and planned his Manual of English Prose Literature: Biographical and critical, which he published in 1872.[2]

In 1873 he moved to London and engaged in literary work, contributing to the now extinct Examiner, of which paper he was editor for 4 years, 1874-1878. Subsequently he was on the leader-writing staff of the Daily News and Pall Mall Gazette. In 1874 he published his Characteristics of English Poets from Chaucer to Shirley, and in 1879 a monograph on Defoe for the ‘English Men of Letters’ series. Besides contributing to the leading reviews he wrote for the Encyclopædia Britannica a number of important articles on literary subjects.[2]

On 8 January 1880 he married Cornelia, daughter of Rev. Lewis Griffiths, rector of Swindon, Gloucestershire. In the same year, on Bain's retirement, Minto was elected to the chair of logic and English in Aberdeen University.[2]

During his professoriate he wrote 3 novels — The Crack of Doom, 1886, The Mediation of Ralph Hardelot, 1888, and Was she good or bad? 1889. He edited Scott's Lay, Oxford, 1886, and Lady of the Lake, 1891; Scott's poetical works, 1887; and Autobiographical Notes of the Life of William Bell Scott, 1892 (cf. correspondence in Academy, 1892).[3]

His health began to decline in 1891, and although a voyage to Greece served temporarily to brace his system, he died of a complication of ailments on 1 March 1893, just when the separation of logic from English in his dual chair appeared to open up fresh opportunities of pursuing his favorite subject.[3]

Writing[]

After his death appeared University Extension Manual on Logic and Plain Principles of Prose Composition, both in 1893, and a 3rd volume, English Literature under the Georges, 1894.[3]

Minto was a versatile writer. He advocated advanced liberal opinions in politics, and during Lord Beaconsfield's Afghan war reviewed the government policy from day to day in the Daily News with conspicuous ability. He claimed that he gave currency to the word "jingoism." His novels, though clever and ingenious, do not retain permanent interest.[3]

As an editor he discovered and encouraged many young authors, since famous, and as a professor he exercised a stimulating influence on his students through the contagion of his enthusiasm.[3]

But his chief work was done in criticism. Laying an admirable foundation of scholarship in the wide reading involved in preparing his first 2 volumes, the one an exhaustive and systematic survey of English literature, and the other a minutely analytic and detailed comparison of styles and characteristics, he judged for himself with penetration, originality, and sanity. He therefore often struck out a novel line, as when he argued that Burns was not merely a genius, but a disciplined student of literature, and that the poet owed his recognition not to the public but to the critics of his time.[3]

Coming with an open mind to controversial subjects, he often offered a new hypothesis. He identified Chapman with the ‘rival poet’ of Shakespeare's sonnets, and added a new sonnet to the recognised number — "Phæton to his friend Florio," prefixed to Florio's Second Fruits (1591).[3]

Publications[]

Novels[]

  • The Crack of Doom: A novel. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1886; New York: Harper, 1886.
  • The Meditation of Ralph Hardelot. London: Macmillan, 1888; New York: Harper, 1888.
  • Was She Good or Bad? A holiday episode. London: Chatto & Windus, 1889.

Non-fiction[]

  • A Manual of English Prose Literature: Biographical and critical; designed mainly to show characteritics of style. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1872.
  • Characteristics of English Prose Poets, from Chaucer to Shelley. Edinburgh & London: Blackwood, 1874.
  • Daniel Defoe. London: Macmillan, 1879; New York: Harper, 1879.
  • Logic: Inductive and deductive. London: John Murray, 1893; New York: Scribner, 1893.
  • Plain Principles of Prose Composition. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1893.
  • The Literature of the Georgian Era. Edinburgh & London: Blackwood, 1894; New York: Harper, 1894.

Edited[]

  • William Bell Scott, Autobiographical Notes of the Life of William Bell Scott: And notices of his artistic and poetic circle of friends, 1830 to 1882. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, 1892; New York: Harper, 1892.


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[4]

See also[]

References[]

  •  Mackie, Alexander (1894) "Minto, William" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 38 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 48-49  . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 13, 2018.

Notes[]

  1. ↑ John William Cousin, "Minto, William," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 274. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 13, 2018.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Mackie, 48.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Mackie, 49.
  4. ↑ Search results = au:William Minto, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 9, 2016.

External links[]

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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Minto, William

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