Edward Mornin has studied at universities in Scotland (Glasgow) and Germany (Munich, Tübingen and Cologne) and has his M.A. (in French, as well as German, 1961) and PhD (in German, 1969) from the University of Glasgow. After teaching English for a year at the University of Cologne, he came to UBC, where (except for research leaves to Erlangen, Graz, Munich and Berlin) he taught in this department from 1965 until his retirement in 2001. He has been Head of Department (1990-95) and Chairperson of European Studies (1993-95), a UBC program that he helped to establish. His research has been supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

German Romanticism (all aspects), 19th century literature, literary anarchism, Scottish – German literary links, literary thematology and the iconography of saints. Ongoing research includes a study of Southeast Asian Buddhist iconography.

With Lorna Mornin: Understanding Buddhist Art in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Phonsawan Books: 2014.

With Lorna Mornin: Saints of California: A Guide to Places and Their Patrons. The J. Paul Getty Museum: Los Angeles, 2009.

With Lorna Mornin. Saints: A Visual Guide. Frances-Lincoln: London, 2006.

Through Alien Eyes: The Visit of the Russian Ship “Rurik” to San Francisco in 1816 and the Men behind the Visit. Peter Lang: Oxford, 2002.

Anarchism and Literature: Collected Essays on John Henry Mackay. Libertarian Publishing: Berrima, 1997.

John Henry Mackay, Die gedachte Welt: Ein Roman und drei Geschichten aus dem Nachlaß. Edited and with an introduction. Peter Lang Verlag: Frankfurt, Bern, New York and Paris, 1989.

Kunst und Anarchismus: “innere Zusammenhänge” in den Schriften John Henry Mackays. Mackay-Gesellschaft: Freiburg, 1983.

Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder und Ludwig Tieck, Outpourings of an Art-Loving Friar. Translated and with an introduction. Ungar: New York, 1975.

Ludwig Tieck, Die schöne Magelone. Edited and with an afterword. Reclam: Stuttgart, 1975.

“National subjects in the works of Achim von Arnim,” German Life and Letters N.S., 24 (1971), 316-27.

“Some patriotic novels and tales by la Motte Fouqué,” Seminar, 11 (1975), 141-156.

“Taking games seriously. Observations on the German sports novel,” Germanic Review, 51 (1976), 278-95.

“Art and alienation in Tieck’s Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen,” MLN, 94 (1979), 510-23.

“Tieck’s revision of Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen,” Seminar, 15 (1979), 79-96.

“Ludwig Uhland and the romantic Mythology,” The Germanic Review, 62 (1987), 20-27.

“‘Bonnie Charlie’s now awa…’: Charles Edward Stuart after the ’45. On the uses of history in fiction,” Forum for Modern Language Studies, 26 (1988), 97-110.

“‘wie verzweifelnd die Indianer pflegen.’ American Indians in Chamisso’s verse,” Seminar, 33 (1997), 213-228.

“‘viele Städte der Menschen gesehen und Sitten gelernt.’; Observations on cosmopolitanism in Chamisso’s poetry.” Colloquia Germanica 31 (1998), 55-65.

“Adelbert von Chamisso: A German Poet-Naturalist and His Visit to California,” California History, 78 (1999), 1-13, 70.

“‘Die Sage will ihr Recht. Ich schreit ihr nach.’ Timelessness and Topicality in Chamisso’s ‘Deutsche Volkssagen,'” A Transatlantic Gathering. Essays in Honour of Peter Stenberg. Iudicium: Munich, 2007. 288-296.