Wilson, John
1785 - Born on May 18th in Glasgow. His best-known work is in the Noctes Ambrosianae, an occasional discursive feature of Blackwood's to which he contributed the majority of the articles.
1812 - He published, The Isle of Palms, followed four years later by The City of the Plague, which gained for him a recognize place in literature, though they did not show his most characteristic gifts, and are now almost unread.
1817 - Among the first contributors to Blackwood's Magazine, he joined the staff and quickly became one of its chief critical writers.
1820 - He became a Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh 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 vigor of his intellect.
1851 - Wilson received a Government pension of £300. The following year a paralytic seizure led to his resignation of his professorial chair.
1854 - Wilson died on April 3rd in Edinburgh.
- 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.
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