John Dover Wilson was an educator and Shakespearean scholar. He was born in Surrey on 13 July, 1881 to Edwin Wilson, an engraver and scientific illustrator, and Elizabeth Dover. Wilson was educated at Lancing College, then at Gonville and Caius, Cambridge. After producing a prize-winning essay on the Elizabethan poet and dramatist John Lyly, he was commissioned by one of the judges, Adolphus William Ward, to write two entries for the

Cambridge History of English Literature

. “The Marprelate Controversy” appeared in volume 3 (1909) and “The Puritan Attack Upon the Stage” in volume 6 (1910).

Wilson’s first forays into scholarship were thus not literary, but historical and centred on oppositional politics. During his early career he was also a witness to a significant political

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Citation: Owens, Rebekah . "John Dover Wilson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 March 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4753, accessed 28 March 2024.]

4753 John Dover Wilson 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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