Charles Lamb | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Henry Hoppner Meyer | |
| Born | 10 February 1775 Inner Temple, London, England |
| Died | 27 December 1834 (aged 59) |
| Other names | Elia |
| Known for | Essays of Elia Tales from Shakespeare |
| Relatives | Mary Lamb (sister), John Lamb (brother; 1763–1821) |
Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the children's book Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–1847).
Friends with such literary luminaries as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth and William Hazlitt, Lamb was at the centre of a major literary circle in England. He has been referred to by E. V. Lucas, his principal biographer, as "the most lovable figure in English literature".[1]