John William Mackail (Born 1859 on the Isle of Bute - died 1945, London). British literary historian, biographer and scholar.

In his early career he worked at the Ministry of Education (1884-1919). He was later Professor of Poetry at Oxford (1906-1911), and President of the British Academy (1932-1936)

He was a friend of William Morris, and wrote the official 1899 biography.

He married Margaret Burne-Jones (1866-1953), the beloved only daughter of artist & designer Edward Burne-Jones. They lived in Kensington and later Holland Park.

Their son, Dennis, created stage designs for plays by J.M. Barrie and George Bernard Shaw. Denis later became a successful novelist and also wrote the 1944 authorised biography of J.M. Barrie.

Works

• Select epigrams from the Greek Anthology (1890)
• Life of William Morris (1899)
• Lectures on Greek poetry (1911).

He also published works on Virgil, the Latin poets, the Icelandic sagas, Shakespeare and the sayings of Jesus.

External links

J.W. Mackail - his works on Project Gutenberg