Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824

A phenomenally popular author also known for his flamboyant and scandalous personal life, Lord Byron produced so much noteworthy work that a complete list is impossible in a short note. Highlights include English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers (1809), Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812-19), The Giaour (1813), The Bride of Abydos (1813), The Corsair (1814), Lara (1814), Hebrew Melodies (1815), The Prisoner of Chillon, and Other Poems (1816), Manfred (1817), Beppo (1818), and Don Juan (1819-24).

Butler, Eleanor, Lady, 1739-1829

Irish noblewoman, known as one of the "Ladies of Llangollen". With Sarah Ponsonby, the subject of William Wordsworth's sonnet "To the Lady E.B. and the Hon. Miss P.". She and Ponsonby left conventional marriages to move to Llangollen in Wales and cohabitate, fascinating and scandalizing contemporaries by wearing men's clothing. Though many observers believed that the two were a sexual couple, diary evidence suggests that may not have been the case.

Busk, M. M.

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.

Burns, Robert, 1759-1796

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).

Burns, Gilbert 1760?-1827

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.

Burney, Fanny, 1752-1840

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.