Ranking among the greatest of all English poets, John Milton (1608 74) was an influential thinker during a particularly volatile period in his nation's history. His supreme masterpiece Paradise Lost forms one of the pillars of English literature. The literary scholar and historian Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh (1861 1922) was educated at University College London and King's College, Cambridge. Following posts at Liverpool and Glasgow, he was appointed Professor of English Literature at Oxford University, where he also served as an adviser to the Clarendon Press. This work, first published in...

David Garrick (1717 79) is synonymous with the golden age of English theatre. Widely acclaimed as an actor, he went on to become a shrewd theatre manager at Drury Lane. His years in charge of the Theatre Royal ensured its dramatic ascendancy and burnished his own considerable celebrity. These letters, first published in 1831, reveal Garrick's gregarious nature and shed light on his many friendships with leading ladies, fellow actors, contemporary playwrights, and members of high society. His love of Shakespeare's work is also evident, highlighting Garrick's pivotal role in ensuring the plays...

Best known for The Rivals and The School for Scandal, Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 1816) was already a celebrated comic playwright when he entered Parliament in 1780. Turning his wit and talent as a writer to political oratory, he won acclaim for his speeches in the House of Commons. As an independent-minded Whig, he had to reconcile his distrust of monarchical power with his role as friend and confidant to the future George IV. Sheridan's was ultimately a turbulent life, rocked by affairs, heavy drinking and constant debt. This successful and influential two-volume biography, first...

Best known for The Rivals and The School for Scandal, Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 1816) was already a celebrated comic playwright when he entered Parliament in 1780. Turning his wit and talent as a writer to political oratory, he won acclaim for his speeches in the House of Commons. As an independent-minded Whig, he had to reconcile his distrust of monarchical power with his role as friend and confidant to the future George IV. Sheridan's was ultimately a turbulent life, rocked by affairs, heavy drinking and constant debt. This successful and influential two-volume biography, first...

David Garrick (1717 79) is synonymous with the golden age of English theatre. Widely acclaimed as an actor, he went on to become a shrewd theatre manager at Drury Lane. His years in charge of the Theatre Royal ensured its dramatic ascendancy and burnished his own considerable celebrity. These letters, first published in 1831, reveal Garrick's gregarious nature and shed light on his many friendships with leading ladies, fellow actors, contemporary playwrights, and members of high society. His love of Shakespeare's work is also evident, highlighting Garrick's pivotal role in ensuring the plays...

Frances Sheridan (1724 66) won acclaim in her day as both a playwright and novelist. Her most famous work, the sentimental novel Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph (1761), found favour with Samuel Johnson, while her comedy The Discovery (1763) was staged by David Garrick at Drury Lane. Her fame was later eclipsed by that of her son, the playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 1816). Written by Alicia Lefanu (1791 c.1844), her granddaughter, this 1824 publication reaffirms the significance of Frances Sheridan's own work as a writer. Recounting her successes and incorporating her...

By the close of the nineteenth century, the works of Sir Walter Scott (1771 1832) could be found on the bookshelves of every respectable Victorian. Public interest was such that, nearly sixty years after his death, there remained considerable demand for new insights into the man and his milieu. First published in 1890, his two-volume journal for the period 1825 32 immediately attracted press attention. One review observed that 'it shows us the man in prosperity and in adversity, now delightfully humorous now saddened by the financial troubles which came upon his later years'. Notwithstanding...

By the close of the nineteenth century, the works of Sir Walter Scott (1771 1832) could be found on the bookshelves of every respectable Victorian. Public interest was such that, nearly sixty years after his death, there remained considerable demand for new insights into the man and his milieu. First published in 1890, his two-volume journal for the period 1825 32 immediately attracted press attention. One review observed that 'it shows us the man in prosperity and in adversity, now delightfully humorous now saddened by the financial troubles which came upon his later years'. Notwithstanding...

Born into a musical family as the daughter of Charles Burney, Frances 'Fanny' Burney (1752 1840) opted for a life of letters. Her epistolary novel Evelina generated both sensation and sales upon its appearance early in 1778, and when her identity as the author was soon revealed, it opened the door to intellectual circles frequented by the likes of Samuel Johnson and fellow diarist Hester Thrale. Appearing under her married name of Madame d'Arblay, her witty and candid journals and correspondence, from her breakthrough until her final years, were edited by her niece Charlotte Barrett (1786...

Born into a musical family as the daughter of Charles Burney, Frances 'Fanny' Burney (1752 1840) opted for a life of letters. Her epistolary novel Evelina generated both sensation and sales upon its appearance early in 1778, and when her identity as the author was soon revealed, it opened the door to intellectual circles frequented by the likes of Samuel Johnson and fellow diarist Hester Thrale. Appearing under her married name of Madame d'Arblay, her witty and candid journals and correspondence, from her breakthrough until her final years, were edited by her niece Charlotte Barrett (1786...