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About the author
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC was an English writer and politician. He was a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. From June 1858 to June 1859, he served as Secretary of State for the Colonies, appointing Richard Clement Moody to be the founder of British Columbia. Following King Otto's abdication in 1862, he renounced the Greek crown. He was made Baron Lytton of Knebworth in 1866. Bulwer-Lytton's works were well-known during his time. Bulwer was born on May 25, 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 in Hertfordshire. He had two older brothers: William Earle Lytton Bulwer (1799-1877) and Henry (1801-1872), who eventually became Lord Dalling and Bulwer. His father died, and his mother relocated to London when he was four years old. When he was 15, his tutor at Ealing, Wallington, urged him to publish an immature piece called Ishmael and Other Poems. Bulwer fell in love at this period, but the woman's father persuaded her to marry someone else.
