author
Sir Frank T. (Frank Thomas) Marzials
1840–1912
A Victorian man of letters with one foot in government service and the other in literary life, he wrote lively short biographies that helped introduce major writers to a broad reading public. His work on Charles Dickens remains the best-known example of his clear, approachable style.
1 Audiobook
Life of Charles Dickens
by Sir Frank T. (Frank Thomas) Marzials
About the author
Born in Lille on January 13, 1840, Frank Thomas Marzials built a career that mixed public service with writing. He entered the War Office during the Crimean War era, later became Accountant-General of the Army in 1898, and was knighted on his retirement in 1904.
Alongside that official career, he wrote poetry, essays, biographies, and translations. He is especially remembered for Life of Charles Dickens, as well as a short study of Molière, both written in a compact, readable style that suited general readers as much as literary enthusiasts.
Marzials died on February 14, 1912. Though he is less widely known today than some of the figures he wrote about, his books still offer a vivid glimpse of the late Victorian taste for smart, accessible literary biography.