Courthope, William John, 1842-1917

William John Courthope (July 17, 1842 – April 10, 1917), was an English writer and historian of poetry. Apart from many contributions to higher journalism, his literary career is associated mainly with his continuation of the edition of Alexander Pope's works, begun by Whitwell Elwin, which appeared in ten volumes from 1871-1889; his life of Addison (Men of Letters series, 1882); his Liberal Movement in English Literature (1885); and his tenure of the professorship of Poetry at Oxford (1895-1901), which resulted in his elaborate History of English Poetry (the first volume appearing in 1895), and his Life in Poetry (1901). He deals with the history of English poetry as a whole, and in its unity as a result of the national spirit and thought in succeeding ages, and attempts to bring the great poets into relation with this. In 1887 he was appointed a civil service commissioner, being first commissioner in 1892, and being made a CB. He was made an honorary fellow of his old college at Oxford in 1896, and was given the honorary degrees of D.Litt by Durham in 1895 and of LL.D by Edinburgh University in 1898.

VIAF ID: 12298521 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32588?docPos=3 Accessed June 12, 2014.