John DeLancey Ferguson (November 13, 1888 – August 13, 1966) was a writer and academic.

Early life

Ferguson was born at

Scottsville, New York Scottsville is a village in southwestern Monroe County, New York, United States, and is in the northeastern part of the Town of Wheatland. The population was 2,001 at the 2010 census. The village is named after an early settler, Isaac Scott. Most ...

in 1888.

Academic career

Ferguson attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

, where he achieved a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1911 and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in 1912. He then received his PhD from Columbia University. He began his teaching career at

Heidelberg College Heidelberg University is a private university in Tiffin, Ohio. Founded in 1850, it was known as Heidelberg College until 1889 and from 1926 to 2009. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. History Heidelberg University was founded b ...

in 1914. He also taught at Ohio Wesleyan University, Case Western Reserve University and Brooklyn College. Ferguson was a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usua ...

, a member of the Modern Language Association, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Robert Burns

Ferguson is considered to be one of the foremost scholars of the life and work of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

. He was appointed as an honorary member of the

Irvine Burns Club The Irvine Burns Club, based at the Wellwood Burns Centre & Museum, was founded on 2 June 1826 and is one of the world's longest continuously active Burns Clubs. At least five personal friends of Robert Burns were among the group of local gentl ...

in 1962.

Death

Ferguson died in 1966 in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

after living with Parkinson's disease.

Publications

* The Relations of the State to Religion in New York and New Jersey during the Colonial Period. New Brunswick: Rutgers College, 1912. * American literature in Spain. New York: Columbia University Press, 1916. * Selected Poems of Robert Burns. New York: Macmillan, 1926. * The Letters of Robert Burns. Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931 * Some aspects of the Burns legend (1932) * Men and Moments: A Book of Living Narratives. New York: Knight, 1938 * Theme and Variation in the Short Story. New York: The Cordon Company, 1938 * Pride and passion: Robert Burns, 1759-1796. New York: Oxford University Press, 1939 * with Robert Tyson Fitzhugh, Robert Burns, His Associates and Contemporaries. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1943. * Mark Twain, man and legend (1943) * The Merry Muses of Caledonia. with James Barke and

Sydney Goodsir Smith Sydney Goodsir Smith (26 October 1915 – 15 January 1975) was a New Zealand-born Scottish poet, artist, dramatist and novelist. He wrote poetry in literary Scots often referred to as Lallans (Lowlands dialect), and was a major figure of the S ...

. New York: Putnam, 1959. * The Poems of Robert Burns. Glasgow: The University Press, 1965

References

Rutgers University alumni Columbia University alumni 1888 births 1966 deaths People from Monroe County, New York {{US-writer-stub