Charles Lamb

Born in London on February 10, 1775, Charles Lamb became one of the most distinctive essayists in English literature. He was educated at Christ's Hospital, where he formed an important friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and he later worked for many years as a clerk in the East India Company. His essays are still admired for their charm, candor, and conversational voice.

Lamb is best remembered for Essays of Elia, a series of pieces that mix autobiography, humor, literary reflection, and affectionate portraits of city life. He also wrote poetry and criticism, but many readers first meet him through Tales from Shakespeare (1807), the much-loved retellings of Shakespeare's plays that he produced with his sister, Mary Lamb.

His life was marked by deep family responsibility, especially his lifelong care for Mary after a family tragedy in 1796. That closeness shaped both his writing and his reputation for tenderness and humanity. Lamb died on December 27, 1834, but his work still feels lively and intimate, as if a thoughtful friend were speaking directly to the reader.