Cappon, James

James Cappon (1854-1939) graduated from Glasgow University in 1879 with an MA. He taught in Europe and Britain for several years until he was appointed to the new chair of English at Queen's University in 1888. In 1906 Cappon was appointed Dean of Arts. Cappon's pamphlet Charles G.D. Roberts and the influence of his times (1905) was a milestone in Canadian literary criticism in placing a Canadian poet in context. This pamphlet was expanded to Charles G.D. Roberts (1925), a volume in the Makers of Canadian Literature series. Cappon wrote two other critical studies: Bliss Carman and the literary currents and influences of his time (1930) and What classical education means (n.d.). He retired in 1919.