Charles Lamb

Charles Lamb, born in London in 1775, was taught to read by his sister Mary and attended a charity boarding school called Christ’s Hospital, which was notorious for its brutality. From a young age, Lamb wanted to be a poet, and he started publishing his poetry in 1796. However, he became best known for his essays, particularly those collected in the book Essays of Elia (1823), and also for his children’s book, Tales from Shakespeare (1807), written with Mary. Lamb and Mary presided over an influential London literary circle that included the likes of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Lamb never married and died at age 59 of a streptococcal infection.