author
John Wilson
1785–1854
Best known as "Christopher North," this lively Scottish writer mixed criticism, fiction, and larger-than-life personality in a way that left a strong mark on 19th-century literary culture. He was also a longtime professor at the University of Edinburgh, bringing the same energy to teaching and public debate.
4 Audiobooks
Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 1
by John Wilson
Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2
by John Wilson
Stories of Romance
by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, Allan Cunningham, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford, John Wilson
The Isle of Palms, and Other Poems
by John Wilson
About the author
Born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1785, John Wilson became one of the best-known literary figures of his day. He wrote poetry, essays, and fiction, but he is most often remembered by his pen name, Christopher North, the voice closely associated with Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.
Wilson trained in law, yet literature and intellectual life drew him more strongly. He served for many years as Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, a role that placed him at the center of Scottish cultural life as both a teacher and a public man of letters.
His writing was energetic, opinionated, and often vivid in tone, which helped make him a memorable presence well beyond his own lifetime. He died in 1854, but he remains an important figure in Scottish Romantic-era writing and criticism.