author
John Colin Dunlop
1785–1842
A thoughtful Scottish historian and man of letters, best remembered for pioneering studies of storytelling and literary history. His work helped map out the long tradition of prose fiction for generations of later readers and critics.
2 Audiobooks
History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Vol. I
by John Colin Dunlop
History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Vol. II
by John Colin Dunlop
About the author
Born near Glasgow in 1785, he was the son of John Dunlop of Rosebank, who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow. He studied in Glasgow and Edinburgh, was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1807, and later became sheriff-depute of Renfrewshire, a post he held until his death in Edinburgh in 1842.
Though trained in law, he is remembered chiefly for his writing. His best-known book, History of Fiction (1814), was an early and ambitious survey of prose storytelling from ancient romances to more modern novels. He also wrote History of Roman Literature to the Augustan Age and Memoirs of Spain during the Reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II., showing the wide range of his historical and literary interests.
Contemporary accounts describe him as studious and somewhat reserved, which fits the careful, scholarly character of his work. For listeners interested in the history of books, ideas, and storytelling itself, he stands out as one of the early writers who tried to trace how fiction developed across centuries and cultures.