Born in London in 1779 as Mary Margaret Blair, this author, translator, and journalist was educated by her mother, with possible assistance from masters. In addition to history, composition, and a seemingly unusual understanding of the sciences, she developed proficiency in French, Italian, Latin, Dutch, German, and Spanish. Her father was a successful non-conformist businessman with an inclination to gamble, connected with many of the leading intellectuals of the day, and Mary Margaret was exposed to their conversation, another probable informal source of education.

Along with aspiring to summarize everything that had ever been written about melancholy, Burton's widely admired Anatomy of Melancholy (1621) contains a rich trove of legendary love stories.

Scottish poet and collector of rural and traditional songs, Burns was sometimes known as the Ploughman Poet for his vocation as a farmer and his depictions of rural life. Much of his work is written in his native Scots. Though admired by many of his contemporaries, Burns was continually dogged by financial strains. His Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786) was repeatedly reissued in enlarged editions. He is also credited with collecting and editing the song collection The Merry Muses of Caledonia: A Collection of Favorite Scots Songs (c. 1800).

Gilbert and his brother, poet Robert Burns, took a joint lease of their father's farm at Mossgiel near Mauchline, Scotland where they both worked as farmers. Gilbert wrote letters to various people in his lifetime, which have served in uncovering the life of his famous brother.

A well loved novelist, Fanny (or Frances) Burney authored Evelina; or, A Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778), Cecilia; or, Memoirs of an Heiress (1782), Camilla; or, A Picture of Youth (1796), and The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties (1814). She also wrote Memoirs of Dr. Burney (1832) about her father, Charles Burney, a musician, composer, and highly respected musicologist. After serving some years in the British court as an attendant on Queen Charlotte, Fanny Burney became Madame D'Arblay through her marriage to the émigré French officer Alexandre D'Arblay.

Musician, composer, and highly respected musicologist; father of novelist Fanny Burney. A contributor to The Cyclopedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature (1802-1819), Burney authored and translated a number of other works on music, musicians, and music history, the most important of which include The Present State of Music in France and Italy (1771), The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Provinces (1773), and A General History of Music, From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period (1776-1789).

Statesman, philosopher, historian, and sometime poet, Irish-born Edmund Burke is by far the most articulate representative of the conservative perspective on the French Revolution. His Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) responds critically to a pro-revolution sermon by Rev. Richard Price by castigating the French for their failure to respect historically sanctioned traditional government and private property.

John Burgoyne was a British general, as well as a popular playwright. As a soldier, he took part in the Seven Years’ War as well as the American Revolution. Burgoyne fought in several Canadian battles during the Revolutionary War, and he led an ultimately ill-fated excursion to cut off the New England colonies from the southern colonies. The excursion resulted in Burgoyne surrendering, bringing him back to England in dishonor. Burgoyne saw success as a dramatist, having written several plays, the most notable of which were The Maid of the Oaks (1774) and The Heiress (1786).

A powerful political figure, Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, served as an ambassador and sheriff under King John before his promotion to Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland, a position he held during the reigns of King John and successor Henry III.

Allegorical author and sometime preacher, Bunyan produced among his more important works Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666), The Pilgrim's Progress (1678), and The Life and Death of Mr Badman (1680).