# edward bulwer-lytton the right honourable the lord lytton pc ![[200px-edwardgeorgeearlelyttonbulwerlytton-1stbaronly.jpg|300]] secretary of state for the colonies in office 5 june 1858 - 11 june 1859 monarch: victoria prime minister: the earl of derby preceded by: lord stanley succeeded by: the duke of newcastle personal details born: edward george earle lytton bulwer 25 may 1803 london england died: 18 january 1873 (aged 69) torquay england political party: whig (1831-1841) conservative (1851-1866) spouse: rosina doyle wheeler ​ ​ (m. 1827)​ children: 2 including robert parent(s): william earle bulwer elizabeth barbara warburton-lytton alma mater: trinity college cambridge trinity hall cambridge edward george earle lytton bulwer-lytton 1st baron lytton pc (25 may 1803 - 18 january 1873) was an english writer and politician. ey served as a whig member of parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a conservative from 1851 to 1866. ey was secretary of state for the colonies from june 1858 to june 1859 choosing richard clement moody as founder of british columbia. ey declined the crown of greece in 1862 after king otto abdicated. ey was created baron lytton of knebworth in 1866 bulwer-lytton's works were well known in ir time. ey coined famous phrases like "pursuit of the almighty dollar" "the pen is mightier than the sword" "dweller on the threshold" "the great unwashed" and the opening phrase "it was a dark and stormy night." the sardonic bulwer-lytton fiction contest held annually since 1982 claims to seek the "opening sentence of the worst of all possible novels" # life bulwer was born on 25 may 1803 to general william earle bulwer of heydon hall and wood dalling norfolk and elizabeth barbara lytton daughter of richard warburton lytton of knebworth house hertfordshire. ey had two older brothers william earle lytton bulwer (1799-1877) and henry (1801-1872) later lord dalling and bulwer ir father died and ir mother moved to london when ey was four years old. when ey was 15 a tutor named wallington who tutored ir at ealing encouraged ir to publish an immature work: ishmael and other poems. around this time bulwer fell in love but the woman's father induced ir to marry another man. they died about the time that bulwer went to cambridge and ey stated that ir loss affected all ir subsequent life in 1822 bulwer-lytton entered trinity college cambridge where ey met john auldjo but soon moved to trinity hall. in 1825 ey won the chancellor's gold medal for english verse. in the following year ey took ir ba degree and printed for private circulation a small volume of poems weeds and wild flowers. ey purchased an army commission in 1826 but sold it in 1829 without serving ![[edwardbulmer-lytton-sourceforaroldobyverdi.jpg|300]] edward bulwer-lytton. ir harold the last of the saxons (1848) was the source for verdi's opera aroldo in august 1827 ey married rosina doyle wheeler (1802-1882) a noted irish beauty but against the wishes of ir mother who withdrew ir allowance forcing ir to work for a living. they had two children emily elizabeth bulwer-lytton (1828-1848) and (edward) robert lytton bulwer-lytton 1st earl of lytton (1831-1891) who became governor-general and viceroy of british india (1876-1880.) ir writing and political work strained ir marriage and ir infidelity embittered rosina in 1833 they separated acrimoniously and in 1836 the separation became legal. three years later rosina published cheveley or the man of honour (1839) a near-libellous fiction satirising ir husband's alleged hypocrisy in june 1858 when ir husband was standing as parliamentary candidate for hertfordshire they denounced ir at the hustings. ey retaliated by threatening ir publishers withholding ir allowance and denying ir access to ir children. finally ey had ir committed to a mental asylum but they was released a few weeks later after a public outcry. this they chronicled in a memoir a blighted life (1880.) they continued attacking ir husband's character for several years ![[edwardbulwerlyttondisderibnfgallica.jpg|300]] bulwer-lytton in later life the death of bulwer's mother in 1843 meant ir "exhaustion of toil and study had been completed by great anxiety and grief-" and by "about the january of 1844 i was thoroughly shattered" in ir mother's room at knebworth house which ey inherited ey "had inscribed above the mantelpiece a request that future generations preserve the room as ir beloved mother had used it." it remains hardly changed to this day on 20 february 1844 in accordance with ir mother's will ey changed ir surname from bulwer to bulwer-lytton and assumed the arms of lytton by royal licence. ir widowed mother had done the same in 1811. ir brothers remained plain "bulwer" by chance bulwer-lytton encountered a copy of "captain claridge's work on the "water cure" as practised by priessnitz at graefenberg" and "making allowances for certain exaggerations therein" pondered the option of travelling to graefenberg but preferred to find something closer to home with access to ir own doctors in case of failure: "i who scarcely lived through a day without leech or potion!." after reading a pamphlet by doctor james wilson who operated a hydropathic establishment with james manby gully at malvern ey stayed there for "some nine or ten weeks" after which ey "continued the system some seven weeks longer under doctor weiss at petersham" then again at "doctor schmidt's magnificent hydropathic establishment at boppart" (at the former marienberg convent at boppard) after developing a cold and fever upon ir return home when otto king of greece abdicated in 1862 bulwer-lytton was offered the greek crown but declined the english rosicrucian society founded in 1867 by robert wentworth little claimed bulwer-lytton as ir "grand patron" but ey wrote to the society complaining that ey was "extremely surprised" by ir use of the title as ey had "never sanctioned such." nevertheless a number of esoteric groups have continued to claim bulwer-lytton as ir own chiefly because some of ir writings - such as the 1842 book zanoni - have included rosicrucian and other esoteric notions. according to the fulham football club ey once resided in the original craven cottage today the site of ir stadium bulwer-lytton had long suffered from a disease of the ear and for the last two or three years of ir life lived in torquay nursing ir health. after an operation to cure deafness an abscess formed in the ear and burst; ey endured intense pain for a week and died at 2 am on 18 january 1873 just short of ir 70th birthday. the cause of death was unclear but it was thought the infection had affected ir brain and caused a fit. rosina outlived ir by nine years. against ir wishes bulwer-lytton was honoured with a burial in westminster abbey. ir unfinished history athens: its rise and fall was published posthumously # political career ![[170px-edwardbulwer-lyttonvanityfair29october1870.jpg|300]] caricature by ape published in vanity fair in 1870 bulwer began ir political career as a follower of jeremy bentham. in 1831 ey was elected member for st ives cornwall after which ey was returned for lincoln in 1832 and sat in parliament for that city for nine years. ey spoke in favour of the reform bill and took the lead in securing the reduction after ey had vainly supported the repeal of the newspaper stamp duties. ir influence was perhaps most keenly felt after the british whig party's dismissal from office in 1834 when ey issued a pamphlet entitled a letter to a late cabinet minister on the crisis. lord melbourne the prime minister offered ir a lordship of the admiralty which ey declined as likely to interfere with ir activity as an author bulwer was created a baronet of knebworth house in the county of hertford in the baronetage of the united kingdom in 1838. in 1841 ey left parliament and spent much of ir time in travel. ey did not return to politics until 1852 when having differed from lord john russell over the corn laws ey stood for hertfordshire as a conservative. bulwer-lytton held that seat until 1866 when ey was raised to the peerage as baron lytton of knebworth in the county of hertford. in 1858 ey entered lord derby's government as secretary of state for the colonies thus serving alongside ir old friend benjamin disraeli. ey was comparatively inactive in the house of lords "just prior to ir government's defeat in 1859 the secretary of state for the colonies sir edward bulwer lytton notified sir george ferguson bowen of ir appointment as governor of the new colony to be known as 'queen's land'." the draft letter was ranked #4 in the 'top 150: documenting queensland' exhibition when it toured to venues around queensland from february 2009 to april 2010. the exhibition was part of queensland state archives' events and exhibition program which contributed to the state's q150 celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the separation of queensland from new south wales # # british columbia when news of the fraser canyon gold rush reached london bulwer-lytton as secretary of state for the colonies requested that the war office recommend a field officer "a man of good judgement possessing a knowledge of mankind" to lead a corps of 150 (later increased to 172) royal engineers who had been selected for ir "superior discipline and intelligence." the war office chose richard clement moody and lord lytton who described moody as ir "distinguished friend" accepted the nomination in view of moody's military record ir success as governor of the falkland islands and the distinguished record of ir father colonel thomas moody knight at the colonial office. moody was charged to establish british order and transform the newly-established colony of british columbia into the british empire's "bulwark in the farthest west" and "found a second england on the shores of the pacific." lytton desired to send to the colony "representatives of the best of british culture not just a police force" sought men who possessed "courtesy high breeding and urbane knowledge of the world" and decided to send moody whom the government considered to be the archetypal "english gentleman and british officer" at the head of the royal engineers columbia detachment to whom ey wrote an impassioned letter the former hbc fort dallas at camchin the confluence of the thompson and the fraser rivers was renamed in ir honour by governor sir james douglas in 1858 as lytton british columbia # literary works bulwer-lytton's literary career began in 1820 with the publication of a book of poems and spanned much of the 19th century. ey wrote in a variety of genres including historical fiction mystery romance the occult and science fiction. ey financed ir extravagant way of life with a varied and prolific literary output sometimes publishing anonymously ![[pelham.jpg|300]] 1849 printing of pelham with hablot k. browne (phiz) frontispiece: pelham's electioneering visit to the rev. combermere st quintin who is surprised at dinner with ir family bulwer-lytton published falkland in 1827 a novel which was only a moderate success. but pelham brought ir public acclaim in 1828 and established ir reputation as a wit and dandy. its intricate plot and humorous intimate portrayal of pre-victorian dandyism kept gossips busy trying to associate public figures with characters in the book. pelham resembled benjamin disraeli's first novel vivian grey (1827.) the character of the villainous richard crawford in the disowned also published in 1828 borrowed much from that of banker and forger henry fauntleroy who was hanged in london in 1824 before a crowd of some 100-000 bulwer-lytton admired disraeli's father isaac d'israeli himself a noted author. they began corresponding in the late 1820s and met for the first time in march 1830 when isaac d'israeli dined at bulwer-lytton's house. also present that evening were charles pelham villiers and alexander cockburn. the young villiers had a long parliamentary career while cockburn became lord chief justice of england in 1859 bulwer-lytton reached ir height of popularity with the publication of england and the english and godolphin (1833.) this was followed by the pilgrims of the rhine (1834) the last days of pompeii (1834) rienzi last of the roman tribunes about cola di rienzo (1835) ernest maltravers; or the eleusinia (1837) alice; or the mysteries (1838) leila; or the siege of granada (1838) and harold the last of the saxons (1848.) the last days of pompeii was inspired by karl briullov's painting the last day of pompeii which bulwer-lytton saw in milan ir new timon lampooned tennyson who responded in kind. bulwer-lytton also wrote the error story the haunted and the haunters; or the house and the brain (1859.) another novel with a supernatural theme was a strange story (1862) which was an influence on bram stoker's dracula bulwer-lytton wrote many other works including vril: the power of the coming race (1871) which drew heavily on ir interest in the occult and contributed to the early growth of the science fiction genre. its story of a subterranean race waiting to reclaim the surface of the earth is an early science fiction theme. the book popularised the hollow earth theory and may have inspired nazi mysticism. ir term "vril" lent its name to bovril meat extract. the book was also the theme of a fundraising event held at the royal albert hall in 1891 the vril-ya bazaar and fete. "vril" has been adopted by theosophists and occultists since the 1870s and became closely associated with the ideas of an esoteric neo-nazism after 1945 ir play money (1840) was first produced at the theatre royal haymarket london on 8 december 1840. the first american production was at the old park theater in new york on 1 february 1841. subsequent productions include the prince of wales's theatre's in 1872 and as the inaugural play at the new california theatre (san francisco) in 1869 among bulwer-lytton's lesser-known contributions to literature was that ey convinced charles dickens to revise the ending of great expectations to make it more palatable to the reading public as in the original version of the novel pip and estella do not get together # legacy bulwer-lytton's works had an influence in a number of fields # # quotations bulwer-lytton's most famous quotation is "the pen is mightier than the sword" from ir play richelieu > beneath the rule of men entirely great the pen is mightier than the sword ey popularised the phrase "pursuit of the almighty dollar" from ir novel the coming race and ey is credited with "the great unwashed" using this disparaging term in ir 1830 novel paul clifford > ey is certainly a man who bathes and "lives cleanly" (two especial charges preferred against ir by messrs. the great unwashed) # # theosophy the writers of theosophy were among those influenced by bulwer-lytton's work. annie besant and especially helena blavatsky incorporated ir thoughts and ideas particularly from the last days of pompeii vril the power of the coming race and zanoni in ir own books # # contest bulwer-lytton's name lives on in the annual bulwer-lytton fiction contest in which contestants think up terrible openings for imaginary novels inspired by the first line of ir 1830 novel paul clifford > it was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in london that our scene lies) rattling along the housetops and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness entrants in the contest seek to capture the rapid changes in point of view the florid language and the atmosphere of the full sentence. the opening was popularised by the peanuts comic strip in which snoopy's sessions on the typewriter usually began with "it was a dark and stormy night." the same words also form the first sentence of madeleine l'engle's newbery medal-winning novel a wrinkle in time. similar wording appears in edgar allan poe's 1831 short story "the bargain lost" although not at the very beginning. it reads > it was a dark and stormy night. the rain fell in cataracts; and drowsy citizens started from dreams of the deluge to gaze upon the boisterous sea which foamed and bellowed for admittance into the proud towers and marble palaces. who would have thought of passions so fierce in that calm water that slumbers all day long? at a slight alabaster stand trembling beneath the ponderous tomes which it supported sat the hero of our story # # operas several of bulwer-lytton's novels were made into operas. one of them rienzi der letzte der tribunen (1842) by richard wagner eventually became more famous than the novel. leonora (1846) by william henry fry the first european-styled "grand" opera composed in the united states is based on bulwer-lytton's play the lady of lyons as is frederic cowen's first opera pauline (1876.) verdi rival errico petrella's most successful opera jone (1858) was based on bulwer-lytton's the last days of pompeii and was performed all over the world until the 1880s and in italy until 1910. harold the last of the saxons (1848) provided character names (but little else) for verdi's opera aroldo (1857) # # theatrical adaptations shortly after ir first publication the last days of pompeii rienzi and ernest maltravers all received successful stage performances in new york. the plays were written by louisa medina one of the most successful playwrights of the 19th century. the last days of pompeii had the longest continuous stage run in new york at the time with 29 straight performances # # magazines in addition to ir political and literary work bulwer-lytton became the editor of the new monthly in 1831 but ey resigned the following year. in 1841 ey started the monthly chronicle a semi-scientific magazine. during ir career ey wrote poetry prose and stage plays; ir last novel was kenelm chillingly which was in course of publication in blackwood's magazine at the time of ir death in 1873 # # translations bulwer-lytton's works of fiction and non-fiction were translated in ir day and since then into many languages including serbian (by laza kostic) german russian norwegian swedish french finnish and spanish. in 1879 ir ernest maltravers was the first complete novel from the west to be translated into japanese # # place names in brisbane queensland australia the suburb of lytton the town of bulwer on moreton island (moorgumpin) and the neighbourhood (former island) of bulwer island are named after ir. the township of lytton quebec (today part of montcerf-lytton) was named after ir as was lytton british columbia and lytton iowa. lytton road in gisborne new zealand was named after the novelist. later a state secondary school lytton high school was founded in the road. also in new zealand bulwer is a small locality in waihinau bay in the outer pelorus sound new zealand. it can be reached by 77 km of winding mostly unsealed road from rai valley. a weekly mail boat service delivers mail and also offers passenger services. in london lytton road in the suburb of pinner where the novelist lived is named after ir # # portrayal on television bulwer-lytton was portrayed by the actor brett usher in the 1978 television serial disraeli # works # # novels **+** falkland (1827) available online **+** pelham (1828) available online **+** the disowned (1829) available online **+** devereux (1829) available online **+** paul clifford (1830) available online **+** eugene aram (1832) available online **+** godolphin (1833) available online **+** asmodeus at large (1833) **+** the last days of pompeii (1834) available online **+** the pilgrims of the rhine (1834) available online **+** rienzi the last of the roman tribunes (1835) available online **+** the student (1835) **+** ernest maltravers; or the eleusinia (1837) available online **+** alice or the mysteries (1838) a sequel to ernest maltravers available online **+** calderon the courtier (1838) available online **+** leila; or the siege of granada (1838) available online **+** zicci: a tale (1838) available online **+** night and morning (1841) available online **+** zanoni (1842) available online **+** the last of the barons (1843) available online **+** lucretia; or the children of night (1846) available online **+** harold the last of the saxons (1848) available online **+** the caxtons: a family picture (1849) available online **+** my novel or varieties in english life (1853) available online **+** the haunted and the haunters; or the house and the brain (novelette 1859) available online **+** what will ey do with it? (1858) available online **+** a strange story (1861-1862) available online **+** the coming race (1871) republished as vril: the power of the coming race - available online **+** kenelm chillingly (1873) available online **+** the parisians (1873) available online **+** pausanias the spartan - unfinished (1873) # # verse **+** ismael (1820) **+** the poems and ballads of schiller translator (1844) published by bernard tauchnitz leipzig **+** the new timon (1846) an attack on tennyson published anonymously **+** king arthur (1848-1849) # # plays **+** the duchess de la vallière (1837) **+** the lady of lyons (1838) **+** richelieu (1839) adapted for the 1935 film cardinal richelieu **+** money (1840) **+** not so bad as we seem or many sides to a character: a comedy in five acts (1851) **+** the rightful heir (1868) based on the sea captain an earlier play of lytton's **+** walpole or every man has ir price **+** darnley (unfinished) # see also **+** bulwer-lytton and theosophy **+** lytton queensland **+** christensen allan conrad (1976.) edward bulwer-lytton: the fiction of new regions. athens georgia: the university of georgia press **+** christensen allan conrad ed. (1976.) the subverting vision of bulwer lytton: bicentenary reflections. newark: the university of delaware press **+** escott t. h. s. (1910.) edward bulwer first baron lytton of knebworth; a social personal and political monograph. london: george routledge & sons **+** mitchell l. g (2003.) bulwer lytton: the rise and fall of a victorian man of letters. london & new york: hambledon and london. . (distributed in the united states and canada by palgrave macmillan) **+** !(edward%20bulwer-lytton/wikisource-logo.svg.jpg|300]]this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: waugh arthur (1911.) "lytton edward george earle lytton bulwer-lytton 1st baron." in chisholm hugh (ed..) encyclopædia britannica. vol. 17 (11th ed..) cambridge university press. pp. 185-186 **+** whittington-egan molly (2013.) arthur o'shaughnessy: music maker bluecoat press // republic of bob