Bulwer-Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton (1803-1873), was an English author. He is now known mainly for his carefully constructed and documented historical novels. His most famous novel is The Last Days of Pompeii (1834), a story set in the Roman city just before it was buried by an eruption from Mount Vesuvius. The book contrasts the luxury and brutality of paganism with the simple virtues of primitive Christianity.
In his own day, Bulwer was known for the variety of his works. Pelham (1828), perhaps his best novel, is partly an early example of detective fiction. Paul Clifford (1830) attacks capital punishment. In The Caxtons (1849), Bulwer told a simple tale of family life, while The Coming Race (1871) describes a Utopian civilization found deep in the earth (see Utopia).
Bulwer wrote three successful plays that are among the few Victorian dramas of interest today. They are The Lady of Lyons (1838), Richelieu (1839), and Money (1840). The role of Cardinal Richelieu is one of the most theatrically effective in English drama. Money is a serious comedy that anticipates the social dramas of later English playwrights such as John Galsworthy.
Bulwer was born on May 25, 1803, in London. He served as a member of Parliament and was secretary for the British colonies from 1858 to 1859. He was made Baron Lytton in 1866. He died on Jan. 18, 1873.
