E. L. Bulwer

Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, (1803 to 1873) was an English writer and politician who served in Parliament as a Whig member between 1831 and 1841 and then sat as a Conservative betwen 1851 and 1866. As Secretary of State for the Colonies between June 1858 and June 1859, he appointed Richard Clement Moody as founder of British Columbia. Declining the Crown of Greece in 1862 after King Otto had abdicated, in 1866 he was created Baron Lytton of Knebworth. His marriage to author Rosina Bulwer Lytton disintegrated and her detention in an insane asylum resulted in public outcry. 's works sold and paid him well. Phrases coined by Bulwer-Lytton include "the great unwashed", "the pen is mightier than the sword", and "pursuit of the almighty dollar". Th opening phrase for a book "It was a dark and stormy night" was also his. Yet his readership declined and he is not well known today.