Edward George Bulwer Lytton.

On 25 May 1803, Edward George Bulwer Lytton was born in London to Elizabeth Barbara Lytton and William Earle Bulwer, the younger child alongside his brother William Earle Lytton Bulwer. Educated at Trinity College and Trinity Hall at Cambridge, he won the Chancellor’s Gold Medal for academic distinction. His father’s early death placed his mother at the center of his formative years, fostering his literary inclinations.

Bulwer Lytton launched his writing career with the novel Paul Clifford in 1830, which featured the opening line It was a dark and stormy night. In 1834 he published The Last Days of Pompeii, a historical novel set in ancient Rome. It was adapted into films in 1913, 1925, and 1959. He served as a member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841, advocating for literary copyright reforms. In 1866 he was made a peer, taking the title Lord Lytton. A close friend of Charles Dickens, he urged Dickens to rewrite the ending of Great Expectations from a tragic to a happy conclusion.

In 1827, Bulwer Lytton married Rosina Doyle Wheeler, with whom he had a daughter, Emily Bulwer Lytton. The marriage was unhappy and they legally separated in 1836. His son Robert Bulwer-Lytton became the 1st Earl of Lytton and served as Viceroy of India, and his grandson Victor Bulwer-Lytton succeeded as the 2nd Earl. He was also a close friend of Charles Dickens, often exchanging literary advice.

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, established in his honor, annually awards the worst opening sentence to a novel. His phrase It was a dark and stormy night was parodied by Charles M. Schulz in the Peanuts comic strip. He persuaded Charles Dickens to change the ending of Great Expectations. His novel The Last Days of Pompeii has been adapted into films in 1913, 1925, and 1959. He is most remembered for that opening line and the contest that rewards terrible prose.