J. A. Cuddon was an English scholar born in 1928 who wrote extensively on literature. He is best known for publishing A Dictionary of Literary Terms in 1976, which formed the basis for this Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Cuddon also wrote novels, travel books, edited collections of ghost and horror stories, and published a massive two-million word account of world sports and games from 3200 BC. He was a prolific author with wide-ranging interests from medieval literature to zoology, and upon his death in 1996 The Times described him as 'one of the great polymaths of his day.'
J. A. Cuddon was an English scholar born in 1928 who wrote extensively on literature. He is best known for publishing A Dictionary of Literary Terms in 1976, which formed the basis for this Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Cuddon also wrote novels, travel books, edited collections of ghost and horror stories, and published a massive two-million word account of world sports and games from 3200 BC. He was a prolific author with wide-ranging interests from medieval literature to zoology, and upon his death in 1996 The Times described him as 'one of the great polymaths of his day.'
J. A. Cuddon was an English scholar born in 1928 who wrote extensively on literature. He is best known for publishing A Dictionary of Literary Terms in 1976, which formed the basis for this Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Cuddon also wrote novels, travel books, edited collections of ghost and horror stories, and published a massive two-million word account of world sports and games from 3200 BC. He was a prolific author with wide-ranging interests from medieval literature to zoology, and upon his death in 1996 The Times described him as 'one of the great polymaths of his day.'
J. A. cuddon was born in l92B.He was educatedat Douai school and
at Brasenosecollege, oxford, where, after taking a degree,he did postgraduatework on the conceprof evil and thedevil in medievaland Renaissanceliterature. As well as numerous essays,short stories, articles, contributions to encyclopedias, a dozen plays and three libretti, he also published a number of novels,notably A Muhitude of sins, Testament of lscariot, Acts of Darkness, Tbe six wounds and The Bride of Battersea, and two travel books, Tbe oul's watcbsong: A study of Istanbul and rhe companion Guide to lugoslauia. A Dictionary of Literary Terms,the basisof this work, was begun while he was on a fellowship at cambridge in rgl9and was completedseven years later. In 1980he published A Dictionary of sport and Games, a two-million word account of most of the spoms and games of the world since 5200 rc, which cameour in paperbackin 19g1.He edired both The Penguin Book of Ghost stories and The penguin Book of Horror stories in 1984,and JamesHogg's The private Memoirs and confessions of a Justified sinner in r99j. A compulsive traveller, with a special inrerest in the Balkans and the Near East, his main recreationswere going to the theatre,watching sport and pursuing an amateur interest in zoology.
J. A. cuddon died in March l996.rnits obiruary The Timesdescribed
him as 'one of the great polymaths of his d"y ... rearnedand erudite ... lhe was] alwaysa pleasureto read'.