Значение слова WILSON в Литературной энциклопедии

WILSON

1) ALEXANDER (1766-1813).-Poet and ornithologist, _b._ at Paisley, where he worked as a weaver, afterwards becoming a pedlar. He _pub._ some poems, of which the best is _Watty and Maggie_, and in 1794 went to America, where he worked as a pedlar and teacher. His skill in depicting birds led to his becoming an enthusiastic ornithologist, and he induced the publisher of _Rees's Cyclopaedia_, on which he had been employed, to undertake an American ornithology to be written and illustrated by him. Some vols. of the work were completed when, worn out by the labour and exposure entailed by his journeys in search of specimens, he succumbed to a fever. Two additional vols. appeared posthumously. The work, both from a literary and artistic point of view, is of high merit. He also _pub._ in America another poem, _The Foresters_.2) WILSON, SIR DANIEL (1816-1892).-Archaeologist and miscellaneous writer, _b._ and _ed._ in Edin., and after acting as sec. of the Society of Antiquaries there, went to Toronto as Prof. of History and English Literature. He was the author of _Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time_, _The Archeology and Pre-historic Annals of Scotland_ (1851), _Civilisation in the Old and the New World_, a study on "Chatterton," and _Caliban, the Missing Link_, etc. 3)WILSON, JOHN ("CHRISTOPHER NORTH") (1785-1854).-Poet, essayist, and miscellaneous writer, _s._ of a wealthy manufacturer in Paisley, where he was _b._, was _ed._ at Glas. and Oxf. At the latter he not only displayed great intellectual endowments, but distinguished himself as an athlete. Having succeeded to a fortune of L50,000 he purchased the small estate of Elleray in the Lake District, where he enjoyed the friendship of Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, and De Quincey. In 1812 he _pub._ _The Isle of Palms_, followed four years later by _The City of the Plague_, which gained for him a recognised place in literature, though they did not show his most characteristic gifts, and are now almost unread. About this time he lost a large portion of his fortune, had to give up continuous residence at Elleray, came to Edinburgh, and was called to the Scottish Bar, but never practised. The starting of _Blackwood's Magazine_ brought him his opportunity, and to the end of his life his connection with it gave him his main employment and chief fame. In 1820 he became Prof. of Moral Philosophy in the Univ. of Edin. where, though not much of a philosopher in the technical sense, he exercised a highly stimulating influence upon his students by his eloquence and the general vigour of his intellect. The peculiar powers of W., his wealth of ideas, felicity of expression, humour, and animal spirits, found their full development in the famous _Noctes Ambrosianae_, a medley of criticism on literature, politics, philosophy, topics of the day and what not. _Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life_ and _The Trials of Margaret Lyndsay_ are contributions to fiction in which there is an occasional tendency to run pathos into rather mawkish sentimentality. In 1851 W. received a Government pension of L300. The following year a paralytic seizure led to his resignation of his professorial chair, and he _d._ in 1854. He was a man of magnificent physique, of shining rather than profound intellectual powers, and of generous character, though as a critic his strong feelings and prejudices occasionally made him unfair and even savage.4)WILSON, JOHN (1804-1875).-Missionary and orientalist, _b._ at Lauder, Berwickshire, and _ed._ at Edin. for the ministry of the Church of Scotland, went in 1828 to India as a missionary, where, besides his immediate duties, he became a leader in all social reform, such as the abolition of the slave-trade and _suttee_, and also one of the greatest authorities on the subject of caste, and a trusted adviser of successive Governors-General in regard to all questions affecting the natives. He was in addition a profound Oriental scholar as to languages, history, and religion. He was D.D., F.R.S., and Vice-Chancellor of Bombay Univ. Among his works are _The Parsi Religion_ (1812), _The Lands of the Bible_ (1847), _India Three Thousand Years Ago_, and _Memoirs of the Cave Temples of India_.5)WILSON, THOMAS (1525?-1581).-Scholar and statesman, _b._ in Lincolnshire, was at Camb., and held various high positions under Queen Elizabeth. He was the author of _The Rule of Reason containing the Arte of Logique_ (1551), and _The Arte of Rhetorique_ (1553), and made translations from Demosthenes. He endeavoured to maintain the purity of the language against the importation of foreign words.

Литературная энциклопедия. 2012