author
Isaac Disraeli
1766–1848
Best known for the lively and learned Curiosities of Literature, this English essayist and literary historian turned a lifetime of reading into books full of anecdotes, ideas, and bookish charm. He is also remembered as the father of Benjamin Disraeli, though his own reputation in the 19th century rested on his work as a man of letters.
6 Audiobooks
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 2
by Isaac Disraeli
Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature
by Isaac Disraeli
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1
by Isaac Disraeli
Calamities and Quarrels of Authors
by Isaac Disraeli
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3
by Isaac Disraeli
About the author
Born in Enfield, Middlesex, in May 1766, Isaac D'Israeli was an English writer, literary historian, and antiquarian of Sephardic Jewish family background. Sources agree that he became known for essays and literary compilations, especially Curiosities of Literature, a work that helped make him a widely read author in Britain.
He wrote across several genres, including criticism, biography, history, and cultural anecdote, with a style shaped by wide reading and a love of unusual details from literary life. Reference works describe him as a notable man of letters, and later readers have often found his books appealing for the way they bring authors, books, and intellectual history together in an accessible form.
He died on January 19, 1848, at Bradenham in Buckinghamshire. Although many people now first encounter him through his connection to his son Benjamin Disraeli, Isaac D'Israeli was an established author in his own right, with a long career built on curiosity, scholarship, and an evident delight in literature.