Real Lives: Learned scholar nurtured passion for books over a inspirational life

AUTHOR and literary scholar Professor Ian Jack has died at the age of 84.

IAN JACK, whose passion for books lead him to teach literature for nearly four decades, was one of the most accomplished literary scholars of his generation.

Ian Robert James Jack was born in Edinburgh in 1923. As a boy, he began to develop what would become a lifelong passion for book collecting. Over the years he amassed a superb collection of old and rare volumes, from 16th-century quartos to modern first editions. His collection incorporated much Scottish material, including a complete run of The Edinburgh Review.

After attending George Watson's College, he achieved a first in English literature at Edinburgh University, then went on to study at Merton College, Oxford.

He made notable contributions in his field both as the editor of meticulously researched editions of original works of poetry and literature and as a teacher whose enthusiasm for his subject inspired students for 39 years.

In 1950 he secured his first teaching job, first becoming a lecturer at Brasenose College, Oxford, before being promoted to senior research fellow in 1955.

Mr Jack moved to Cambridge in 1961 and became a Fellow of Pembroke College and a university lecturer in the English faculty. He was promoted to reader in 1973 and held a personal chair from 1976 until his retirement in 1989.

His knowledge of books and the book market set him up for the role of librarian at Pembroke College, which he combined with his other academic duties from 1965 to 1975.

During his career, as well as undertaking many international speaking engagements for the British Council, Mr Jack also held several distinguished professorships and served in several literary societies: as president of the Charles Lamb Society from 1970-1980, the Browning Society from 1980-83, and the Johnson Society from 1986-87, as well as vice-president of the Bront Society from 1973.

Not content with merely appreciating literature, Mr Jack turned his hand to writing. His first work, Augustan Satire: Intention and Idiom in English Poetry 1660-1750 was first published in 1952 and remains in print today.

He was best known for his meticulous and pioneering editorial work on the Bronts and Browning, and for a series of substantial critical studies ranging from the poetics of 18th-century satire to the reception of modern verse.

Many of his former pupils and colleagues contribute to his Festschrift – a unique celebration book created in his honour – in 1995, Presenting Poetry: Composition, Publication, Reception. Essays in Honour of Ian Jack.

Mr Jack is survived by his second wife, Elizabeth, and their son, and by two sons and a daughter from a previous marriage.