John William Cousin was a British writer, editor and biographer. He was one of six children born to William and Anne Ross Cousin

Anne Ross Cousin

Anne Ross Cousin was a Scottish poet, musician and songwriter. She was a student of John Muir Wood and later became a popular writer of hymns, most especially "The Sands Of Time Are Sinking", while travelling with her minister husband from 1854 to 1878...

, his mother being a noted hymn-writer, in Scotland. A fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of the Faculty of Actuaries

Faculty of Actuaries

The Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland was the professional body representing actuaries in Scotland. The Faculty of Actuaries was one of two actuarial bodies in the UK, the other was the Institute of Actuaries, which was a separate body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 and secretary

Secretary

A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...

 of the Actuarial Society of Edinburgh, he revised and wrote the introduction for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...

's Evangeline in 1907.

However, he is best known as the editor of A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature is a collection of biographies of writers by John William Cousin , published in 1910...

, a collection of biographical entries on numerous authors and literary figures, originally published in 1910 for J.M. Dent's "Everyman Library" series. The bulk of his work was later used by David Clayton Browning to compile the Everyman's Dictionary of Literary Biography which was released in 1958 and subsequently reprinted during the 1960s and 70s.

External links

• http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mediatype%3A%28texts%29%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20%28subject%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20William%2C%201849-1910%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Cousin%2C%20J.%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%2C%201849-1910%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%2C%201849-1910%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20William%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Cousin%2C%20J.%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22John%20William%20Cousin%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22John%20W.%20Cousin%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22J.%20W.%20Cousin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20William%2C%201849-1910%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20William%2C%20Sir%2C%201849-1910%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Cousin%2C%20J.%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%2C%201849-1910%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%2C%201849-1910%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20William%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Cousin%2C%20J.%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22John%20William%20Cousin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22John%20W.%20Cousin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22J.%20W.%20Cousin%22%20OR%20title%3A%22John%20William%20Cousin%22%20OR%20title%3A%22John%20W.%20Cousin%22%20OR%20title%3A%22J.%20W.%20Cousin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22John%20William%20Cousin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22John%20W.%20Cousin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22J.%20W.%20Cousin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20William%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Cousin%2C%20J.%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Cousin%2C%20John%20W.%20%28John%20William%29%22%29Works by John William Cousin] at Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  (scanned books original editions)