author
Tom Taylor
1817–1880
A hugely popular Victorian dramatist, journalist, and editor of Punch, he wrote with speed, wit, and a sharp eye for public life. He is best remembered today for Our American Cousin and for a long career that ranged from the stage to art criticism and government service.
2 Audiobooks
Our American Cousin
by Tom Taylor
Masks and Faces; or, Before and Behind the Curtain: A Comedy in Two Acts
by Tom Taylor, Charles Reade
About the author
Born in Bishopwearmouth, near Sunderland, on October 19, 1817, Tom Taylor became one of the busiest literary figures of 19th-century Britain. He studied at Glasgow and Trinity College, Cambridge, later taught English literature at University College London, trained in law, and also worked as a civil servant.
Taylor wrote prolifically for the theatre, producing around a hundred plays and adaptations. His best-known work is Our American Cousin (1858), and he also wrote The Ticket-of-Leave Man. Alongside his dramatic work, he built a strong reputation as a journalist, critic, and biographer.
He was also closely associated with Punch, serving as its editor in the 1870s, and worked as an art critic for major newspapers. That mix of popular entertainment, criticism, and public service made him a distinctive Victorian man of letters. He died on July 12, 1880, in Wandsworth, England.