Roger Ian Sharrock (23 August 1919 – 27 December 1990) was a British literary scholar noted for his works on

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', which also became an influential literary model. In addition to ''The Pilgrim' ...

and the

Romantic poets Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Neoclassical ideas of the 18th c ...

.'Roger Sharrock', ''The Times'' (22 January 1991), p. 12.''Bunyan Studies'', Issue 4 (1991), p. 5. The journal ''Bunyan Studies'' called him "the best known and most distinguished Bunyan scholar of the twentieth century".

Early life and academic career

Sharrock was educated at

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (day school, no boarding) for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabet ...

and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served in the

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somers ...

, from 1939 to 1941. In 1946 he was appointed lecturer in English at University College, Southampton and as reader in 1962. In 1963 he became professor of English at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

and in 1968 he was appointed professor of English language and literature at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, a post he held until his retirement in 1981. Sharrock edited John Bunyan's works for the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

and organised the publication of the ''Miscellaneous Works'' of Bunyan, which appeared in 12 volumes and for the first time provided reliable texts of 60 of Bunyan's works. He also wrote about the Romantic poets, focusing on

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

's early poetry. He was chairman of the

English Association The English Association is a subject association for English dedicated to furthering the study and enjoyment of English language and literature in schools, higher education institutes and amongst the public in general. It was founded in 1906 by ...

from 1972 to 1979.

Personal life

He married and had a son and two daughters. Sharrock converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1951.

Works

Books

*''Songs and Comments'' (London: The Fortune Press, 1946). *''John Bunyan'' (London: Hutchinson's University Library, 1954). *''Life and Story in The Pilgrim's Progress'' (London: Dr. William's Trust, 1978). *''Saints, Sinners and Comedians: The Novels of Graham Greene'' (Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Burns & Oates, University of Notre Dame Press, 1984).

Articles

*'Bunyan and the English Emblem Writers', ''The Review of English Studies'', Vol. 21, No. 82 (April 1945), pp. 105-116. *'Spiritual Autobiography in The Pilgrim's Progress', ''The Review of English Studies'', Vol. 24, No. 94 (April 1948), pp. 102-120. *'The Imperfections of Criticism', ''Blackfriars'', Vol. 35, No. 410 (May 1954), pp. 209-215. *'Try to say what happened in your own words', ''Blackfriars'', Vol. 36, No. 420 (March 1955), p. 66. *'The Origin of A Relation of the Imprisonment of Mr. John Bunyan', ''The Review of English Studies'', 2, Vol. 10, No. 39 (August 1959), pp. 250-256. *'The Chemist and the Poet: Sir Humphry Davy and the Preface to Lyrical Ballads', ''Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London'', Vol. 17, No. 1 (May 1962), pp. 57-76. *'Fables and Symbols—I', ''New Blackfriars'', Vol. 50, No. 585 (February 1969), pp. 233-240. *'Fables and Symbols—II', ''New Blackfriars'', Vol. 50, No. 586 (March 1969), pp. 285-290. *‘''The Prelude'': The Poet's Journey to the Interior’, ''English'', Vol. XIX, No. 103 (Spring 1970), pp. 1-6. *'Coleridge and Abstruse Research', ''Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory'', No. 59 (October 1982), pp. 1-19. *'"The Life and Death of Mr. Badman": Facts and Problems', ''The Modern Language Review'', Vol. 82, No. 1 (January 1987), pp. 15-29.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharrock, Roger 1919 births 1990 deaths People educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield Alumni of St John's College, Oxford King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry soldiers Academics of the University of Southampton Academics of Durham University Academics of King's College London