John Lyly

John Lyly

Lyly's signature, from a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, 4 Feb. 1602-3
Lyly's signature, from a letter to Sir Robert Cecil, 4 Feb. 1602-3
Born1553 or 1554
Kent, England
Died30 November 1606 (age about 52)
London, England
Resting placeSt Bartholomew-the-Less, London
OccupationWriter, dramatist, courtier, and Member of Parliament
LanguageEarly Modern English
NationalityEnglish
Alma materMagdalen College, Oxford
Literary movementEnglish Renaissance
Years active1578–1602
Notable works
ParentsPeter Lyly and Jane Burgh
Relatives

John Lyly (/ˈlɪli/; c. 1553 or 1554 – November 1606; also spelled Lilly, Lylie, Lylly) was an English writer, playwright, courtier, and parliamentarian. He was best known during his lifetime for his two books Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and its sequel Euphues and His England (1580), but is perhaps best remembered now for his eight surviving plays, at least six of which were performed before Queen Elizabeth I. Lyly's distinctive and much imitated literary style, named after the title character of his two books, is known as euphuism. He is sometimes grouped with other professional dramatists of the 1580s and 1590s like Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, George Peele, and Thomas Lodge, as one of the so-called University Wits.[1][2] He has been credited by some scholars with writing the first English novel, and as being 'the father of English comedy'.[3][4]

  1. ^ George Saintsbury, History of Elizabethan Literature, MacMillan, London, 1887, pp.60-64
  2. ^ Allardyce Nicoll, The Theory of Drama, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1931, p.165
  3. ^ Sampson, George (1941). The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature, p. 161. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  4. ^ John Dover Wilson, John Lyly, Macmillan and Bowes, 1905; p. 140.

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