Robert Williams Buchanan

Born in Caverswall, Staffordshire, on August 18, 1841, and raised largely in Glasgow, Robert Williams Buchanan became a Scottish poet, novelist, and dramatist with a strong presence in late Victorian literary life. Reliable reference sources agree on the broad outline of his career and note that he worked across several forms rather than staying in just one.

He built his reputation first as a poet, with books such as London Poems, and later wrote fiction and plays as well. He is often remembered today not only for his writing but also for his public attacks on the Pre-Raphaelites, which made him a controversial figure in his own time.

Buchanan died in London on June 10, 1901. Though he is less widely read now than some of his contemporaries, his career offers a vivid glimpse of the busy, argumentative world of Victorian literature, where poets and critics often fought for attention as fiercely as they wrote for it.