DUNLOP

dunlop, john colin (1785-1842), scottish man of letters, was born on the 30th of december 1785. in 1816 he became sheriff of renfrewshire, and retained this office until his death at edinburgh, on the 26th of january (according to others, in february) 1842. the work by which he is best known, and which will always hold an honourable place in english literature, is his _history of fiction_ (1814; new edition, 1888, with notes by h. wilson, in bohn's "standard library"). in spite of the somewhat contemptuous notices in _blackwood's magazine_ (september 1824) and the _quarterly review_ (july 1815), it may be pronounced the best book on the subject in english. f. liebrecht, by whom it was translated into german (1851) with valuable notes, describes it as the only work of its kind. dunlop was also the author of _a history of roman literature_ (1823-1828), and of _memoirs of spain during the reigns of philip iv. and charles ii._ (1834).