author

Daniel J. MacDonald

b. 1881

A Canadian scholar from Nova Scotia, he wrote a focused early study of Percy Bysshe Shelley that traces the poet’s political and philosophical influences. His best-known surviving work began as a doctoral dissertation and still appeals to readers interested in literary history.

1 Audiobook

The Radicalism of Shelley and Its Sources

The Radicalism of Shelley and Its Sources

by Daniel J. MacDonald

About the author

Born in Glassburn, Nova Scotia, on November 7, 1881, Daniel J. MacDonald was educated first in the local public school and then at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish. The biographical note attached to later reprints of his work identifies him as the author of a dissertation on Shelley, and Project Gutenberg preserves that study in digital form.

His best-known book, The Radicalism of Shelley and Its Sources, was submitted to the Catholic University of America as a Ph.D. dissertation and published in Washington, D.C., in June 1912. In it, MacDonald examines the intellectual currents behind Shelley’s radical ideas, including politics, religion, and views on love and reform.

Little widely verified information about his later life is easy to confirm from reliable online sources, so his published scholarship remains the clearest window into his career. For readers of classic criticism, his work offers a thoughtful snapshot of early twentieth-century literary study.