Author, Politician. He was a prolific novelist of 19th century England, along with holding political positions and being a magazine editor and a published critic. He was considered the most popular novelist in the 19th century until Charles Dickens. In 1820 his collection of poems, "Ismal: An Oriental Tale and Poems" was published with public recognition from Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott. His first novel, "Pelham" in 1828, was not as successful but marked the beginning of his literary career. Many of his novels' opening sentences have his characteristic style of being a weather report. Dealing with historical events, crime, and romance, he successfully published the three volumes of "In Eugene Aram" in 1832, the three volumes of "The Last Days of Pompeii" in 1834, the erotic Zanoni in 1842, "Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings" in 1848, the three volumes of "The Caxtons" in 1849, "My Novel" in 1853 and his 1871 science fiction novel, "The Coming Race." After publishing at least 15 novels, he left his last novel, "Zicci," unfinished. Besides his novels, he published at least four stage plays, an unsuccessful long epic "King Arthur" in 1848, dozens of published essays in periodicals, and several volumes of poetry. Many of his novels have been translated to various languages. In his poetry, he criticized poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and others of the "silver fork" high society. Born the youngest of three sons of General William Bulwer and Elizabeth Lytton, his parents had separated when he was age one and by age four, his father had died after serving in the Napoleonic Wars. On February 20, 1843 in accordance to his mother's will, he changed his surname from Bulver to Bulver-Lytton and inherited Knebworth House, the Lytton family's stately country house with 250 acres. His brothers and other members of the family kept the surname of Bulver. He studied in private schools before entering Trinity College at Cambridge and traveling to France and visiting Paris and Versailles. While at Cambridge, he published a collection of poems, "Delmour; or, A Tale of a Sylphid, and Other Poems," for which he was awarded in July of 1825 the Chancellor's Medal for the poem "Sculpture." This poem was published in "Fraser Magazine," criticizing society with an attack on satirical author William Makepeace Thackeray. He graduated with a B.A. degree. After a couple of dramatic love affairs, he married a beautiful Irish woman, Rosina Doyle Wheeler, on August 29, 1827 in London, but the marriage was stormy. His mother disapproved of the marriage, stopping his allowance and forcing him to develop his writing career for an income. Following the birth of a daughter and a son, they were legally separated on April 19, 1836. In 1839, his wife published in retaliation of his extramarital actions, a satirical novel, "Cheveley or The Man of Honor." For this very public humiliation, he denied her access to the children, condemned her publisher, withheld her allowance and arranged her to be committed to a mental asylum for a couple of weeks. Beginning his political career in 1831, he entered the House of Parliament as a Liberal for St Ives in Cornwall, then Lincoln. Ten years later, he resigned in a protest against the repeal of the Corn Laws. In 1852, he returned to Parliament as a Tory at the encouragement of his close colleague, Benjamin Disraeli, who would later become Prime Minister. In June of 1858 he entered Lord Derby's government as Secretary of State for the Colonies for a year, being involved with the politics in Canada. For his contributions to literature, he was created 1st Baron Lytton of Knebworth in 1866 and according to the inscription on his grave marker, received the Knight of Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George. He has on display at the National Gallery at host of formal oil-on-canvas portraits, caricatures, watercolor portraits, drawings of him, at least three bronze busts, medallions with his image, and other pieces in a large collection. In the 19th century, several of his novels were adapted to operas or musical stage plays being performed in Europe as well as the United States. Although his novels are not popular in the 21st century, he introduced in one of his novels the notion of the "black tie" for men's formal evening attire, which has successfully continued into the 21st century. He coined several phases, with the one still being in use, "the pen is mightier than the sword." After suffering from chronic ear infections, he became deaf the last two years of his life. Subsequently, he had an operation to cure the deafness. He developed a post-operative infection, which migrated from his ear, to his brain causing seizures before his death. Bulwer-Lytton was honored with a burial in Westminster Abbey. After his death, his son, Edward "Robert" Lytton Bulwer-Lytton received his peerage and became Viceroy of British India from 1876 to 1880. Since their names are similar, their accomplishments are often documented one for the other.