author
John Nichol
1833–1894
A lively Scottish literary scholar and biographer, he helped establish English literature as a university subject in Britain. He is remembered for writing on figures like Robert Burns, Lord Byron, and Thomas Carlyle, while also championing American writing for British readers.
2 Audiobooks
Thomas Carlyle
by John Nichol
Byron
by John Nichol
About the author
Born in Montrose on September 8, 1833, he was the son of the astronomer John Pringle Nichol and grew up mainly in Glasgow. After studying at Glasgow and Balliol College, Oxford, he built a strong academic reputation and went on to become the first Regius Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow.
He spent decades teaching, writing, and speaking about literature in a way that helped broaden its place in university life. Alongside criticism and essays, he wrote biographies of major literary figures including Robert Burns, Lord Byron, and his friend Thomas Carlyle, and he was also known for the drama Hannibal.
His interests were wide-ranging, and contemporaries noted that he did much to encourage appreciation of American books in Britain. He died in London on October 11, 1894, leaving behind a reputation as an energetic teacher, man of letters, and early champion of literary studies as a serious academic field.