Lamb, Charles 1775-1834
English essayist and poet

Born in the Temple, London, the son of a clerk, he was educated at Christ's Hospital (1782-89), where he formed a lasting friendship with Coleridge. In 1792 he took a post at India House, where he remained for more than 30 years. In 1796 his sister Mary (1764-1847), in an attack of mania, stabbed their invalid mother to death. Her brother's guardianship was accepted by the authorities and to this trust Charles devoted his life. His early attempts at writing included poetry, a little prose romance entitled The Tale of Rosamund Gray and Old Blind Margaret (1797), and in 1801 John Woodvil - the result of his study of Elizabethan dramatic poetry, in whose revival he was to play so large a part. However, it was only with the joint publication with Mary of Tales from Shakespeare (1807), for William Godwin's 'Juvenile Library', that he achieved success. They went on to write several more books for children, then in 1818 Charles collected his scattered verse and prose in two volumes as the Works of Charles Lamb, and was invited to join the staff of the new London Magazine. His first essay, in August 1820, 'Recollections of the old South Sea House', was signed 'Elia', the name of a foreigner who had been a fellow-clerk. Collected as the Essays of Elia (1823-33), these became his best-known works. In 1825 he resigned his post in the India House due to poor health, and with Mary eventually moved to Edmonton. The separation from his friends and the now almost continuous mental alienation of his sister left him companionless, and with the death of Coleridge in 1834 the chief attractions of his life were gone. One of the most subtle and original critics and prose writers, he is familiar through his works, composed in the form of personal confidences, and through his letters, some of the most fascinating correspondence in the English language.

Bibliography: E V Lucas, Life of Charles Lamb (2 vols, 1905, 1921)