Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Paul Clifford.

London:  Colburn and Bentley, 1830.

 

Biographical Information about Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer was born at 31 Baker Street, London, on May 25th, 1803. He was the third and youngest son of General William Earle Bulwer and Elisabeth Barbara Warburton Lytton. The Bulwers were an old Norfolk family, and they had held the lands of Wooddalling ever since the Norman Conquest of 1066. Elisabeth was the descendant and heiress of the families of Robinson and Lytton of Knebworth in the county of Hertford.

In 1820, Bulwer-Lytton's mother prevailed upon the London firm of J. Hatchard and Son to print a collection of her son's poems under the title of Ismael: An Oriental Tale, with Other Poems. Bulwer-Lytton attended Trinity College at Cambridge from 1822 to 1825. In 1823, he published a collection of poems entitled Delmour; or, A Tale of a Sylphid, and Other Poems. In July of 1825, he won the Chancellor's medal for a poem entitled "Scripture." In 1826, Bulwer-Lytton took his B.A. degree. He would receive his M.A. in 1835, and in 1864, Cambridge University would honor him with an LL.D. degree for his contribution to literature. Also in 1826, Bulwer-Lytton published a third volume of poetry entitled Weeds and Wildflowers, which, like the two previous poetic publications, was heavily derivative of Byron in both subject and style. After attending university, Bulwer-Lytton lived in Paris from 1825 to 1826, and took up residence in London upon his return to England. In 1827, he finished a draft of his first novel, Falkland, and published the long dramatic poem, O'Neill; or, The Rebel. On August 29th, 1827, he was married to Rosina Doyle Wheeler. After about six years, the marriage became an unhappy one, but they did produce two children before securing a deed of separation in 1836.

In 1828, Bulwer-Lytton published Pelham and Disowned, in 1829 he published the disappointing historical novel, Devereux, and in 1830, he published his first Newgate crime novel, Paul Clifford, which called for reforms in the judicial system and of the penal code. In 1831, Bulwer-Lytton entered Parliament, serving until 1841 for St. Ives and Lincoln. Also in 1831, he wrote a long satirical poem about life in London called The Siamese Twins, and published an edition of Collected Poems. In 1831-1832, he edited the New Monthly Magazine. Trumping his highwayman hero in Paul Clifford, Bulwer-Lytton received harsh criticism concerning his 1832 novel, Eugene Aram, due to its hero being a murderer. In 1833, he returned to the fashionable life as subject in Godolphin, and he also published his two-volume analysis of English social manners in England and the English. Also in 1833, he published the metaphysical fantasy, The Pilgrims of the Rhine. The following year, he published his most popular novel, The Last Days of Pompeii (1834), actually coming out a month after the 1834 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. In 1835, he published Rienzi, which was set in ancient and medieval Italy. The theme of ancient history continued in 1837, with the publication of Athens, Its Rise and Fall. Ernest Maltravers was also published in that year, followed by its sequel, Alice, the following year. 1838 also produced Leila; or, The Siege of Granada, and also Calderon the Courtier, both set in Spain during the 15th century, and both also reflecting the massive workload of the novelist that year in terms of their lack of quality.

Bulwer-Lytton's novels written between 1827 and 1838 proved greatly popular with the public, but as a result of the work involved in achieving that literary success, his marriage and his health greatly suffered. During the latter years of this success, he also wrote several plays, beginning with the staging of The Duchess de la Valliere in 1837. In 1838 came the historical drama, The Lady of Lyons, and Richelieu in 1839. The Sea Captain also came out in 1839, but as a result of harsh criticism, Bulwer-Lytton altered it, and it reappeared in 1868 under the title of The Rightful Heir. In 1840, he staged the comedy, Money, which would become his most popular play, as it even prompted Charles Dickens to write him in 1841 to congratulate him on the play's success. Other plays included Not So Bad as We Seem (1851), Walpole (1869), and Darnley (1882).

Some of Bulwer-Lytton's best novels appeared in the 1840s, beginning with Night and Morning in 1841. Zanoni appeared in 1842, The Last of the Barons in 1843, Lucretia in 1846, and the first novel after his decision to abandon Newgate fiction, Harold, in 1848. In 1850, The Caxtons saw Bulwer-Lytton's return to domestic fiction, followed by My Novel (1853) and What Will He Do with It? (1858). His last novels were A Strange Story (1862), The Coming Race (1871), Kenelm Chillingly (1873), The Parisians, which was published posthumously in 1873, and Pausanias the Spartan which was unfinished, yet still published in 1876. His later poetic works included King Arthur (1848), and The Lost Tales of Miletus in 1866.

In reading Paul Clifford, one can sense the frustration that Bulwer-Lytton experienced in terms of the critical reception of his novels. He often reacted to criticism in his writing, as he even felt prompted to write a defense of his crime fiction in the form of a pamphlet in 1847, called A Word to the Public. His tendency to explore subject matter deemed questionable in terms of its morality in his Newgate fiction prompted not only the pamphlet, but also his abandonment of the genre, altogether. Bulwer-Lytton's writing was very diverse in terms of genre, and his popularity during his lifetime even rivaled that of Dickens, a writer with whom he would form a friendship.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton died on January 18th, 1873, as a result of inflammation of the membranes of the brain due to a disease in the ear from which he had suffered for many years. Bulwer-Lytton desired to be buried quietly at his family mausoleum in Knebworth, but his son could not refuse the honor of a public burial at Westminster Abbey.

Sources

Campbell, James L., Sr. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1986.
Lytton, Earl of. The Life of Edward Bulwer, First Lord Lytton: by His Grandson, the Earl of Lytton. 2 vols. London: MacMillan and Co., Ltd., 1913.

-- Prepared by Cameron Dodworth, University of Nebraska, Spring 2006
© Cameron Dodworth, 2006.