William Warner is best remembered for his verse chronicle entitled Albion's England and his romance novel Pan, His Syrinx, both drawing on British history and Elizabethan England.

Eventually to become Bishop of Gloucester, Warburton entered the clergy largely to pursue his interest in literature. Controversial as both a theologian and critic, he held a collaborative view of literary creation, particularly evident in his friendship with Alexander Pope. Warburton's edition of the works of Shakespeare is an early landmark in the body of the criticism that brought Shakespeare to the apex of the British literary canon.

Father of Horace Walpole, British Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742, and the author of Bob—Lynn against Franck—Lynn, or, A full history of the controversies and dissentions in the family of the Lynn's (1732). Incensed by 's theatrical satires of his administration, Walpole was responsible for the passing of The Licensing Act of 1737, which granted the Lord Chamberlain's office the responsibility of theatrical censorship, whether by the modification or outright veto of a play.

Son of British Prime Minister Robert Walpole, Horace Walpole was a prolific letter writer, memoirist, poet, dramatist, novelist, antiquarian, and critic. He is best known for inaugurating the Gothic novel with The Castle of Otranto (1764), a tale of aristocratic decadence, incest, and the supernatural. He privately printed and circulated among his acquaintances copies of a second gothic work, The Mysterious Mother (1768), this time a blank verse tragedy on the theme of Catholicism and incest.

Poet and notable legislator, Waller authored a variety of coterie verse, including "The Story of Phoebus and Daphne, Applied" (1645).

Leader in the Wars of Scottish Independence, Wallace became Scotland's greatest national hero and the subject for several literary works as well as the film biography Braveheart.

German writer who often published under the pseudonym Viet Weber. Among other works published under that name, he published Teufelsbeschwörung, which was translated into English as The Sorcerer and published in 1795 by Joseph Johnson.

Author of the Brut d'Angleterre (Le Roman de Brut, 1155).

French author of a voluminous body of poetry, criticism, history, and drama, Voltaire was probably best known for his comic yet philosophical fiction. Among his most notable works, his first dramatic tragedy, Oedipe (1718), was a tremendous success. His epic poem La Henriade (1723) celebrates the life of Henry IV of France. Zaire (1732) is a tragic love drama. Letters Concerning the English Nation (1733) offers a comparison between England and France that is favorable to England particularly for its religious tolerance.

French court and occasional poet, Voiture was admired for the letters and poems he circulated among a fashionable literary coterie.