Jack studied at Ayr Academy and then at
Glasgow University (1959-1964) where he achieved First Class Honours in English Language and Literature.[2] He completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh (1964-1968) under Professor Jack MacQueen on the topic "The Scottish Sonnet and Renaissance Poetry".[2]
Academic Career at the University of Edinburgh
Assistant Lecturer: 1965
Lecturer: 1968
Reader: 1978
Personal Chair, Scottish and Medieval Literature: 1987-2004
His academic work focused on medieval and renaissance Scottish literature, Scottish literature in translation, Italian influences in Scottish literature and culture,
Robert Burns,
J. M. Barrie,
Alexander Montgomerie, and other subjects.[3]
Works
Robert Maclellan's Jamie the Saxt (Calder and Boyars, 1972), edited, with Ian Campbell
The Italian Influence on Scottish Literature (Edinburgh University Press, 1972)
Scottish Prose 1550-1700 (Calder and Boyars, 1972)
A Choice of Scottish Verse 1560-1660 (Hodder and Stoughton, 1978)
The Art of Robert Burns (1982), edited, with Andrew Noble
Sir Thomas Urquhart, "The Jewel" (Scottish Academic Press, 1984), with R. J. Lyall
Alexander Montgomerie (Scottish Writers Series: Scottish Academic Press, 1985)
Scotland's Literary Debt to Italy (Edinburgh University Press/ Instituto Italiano di Cultura, 1986)
Leopardi: A Scottis Quair (Edinburgh University Press, 1987), with M. L. McLaughlin and
Christopher Whyte
The History of Scottish Literature, Volume 1, Origins to 1660 (Aberdeen University Press, 1988), edited
Patterns of Divine Comedy in Medieval Drama (Boydell and Brewer,1989)
The Road to the Never Land: A Re-assessment of J.M. Barrie's Dramatic Art (Aberdeen University Press, March 1991)
J. M. Barrie: Myths and the Mythmaker (Rodopi, 2010)
Jack Medal
In 2018, the
International Association for the Study of Scottish Literatures launched the Jack Medal, named in Jack's honour.[4] The medal is awarded every year for the best newly published academic article on a subject dealing with Scottish literature and related to reception and/or diaspora.[4]