Publisher's Synopsis
Bulwer-Lytton's, Night and Morning, a proto-mystery about the pursuit of an inheritance, was first published in 1841 in Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine . The novel features the character of Monsieur Favart, a Parisian police chief. Night and Morning was reviewed by Edgar Allan Poe in the same issue of Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine in which Poe's own murder mystery "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," a myestry fiction, had first appeared with Auguste Dupin character. Poe praised the plot construction of Night and Morning and his two subsequent stories The Mystery of Marie Roget and The Purloined Letter, which also featured Auguste Dupin, were influenced by Night and Morning. The Charles Dickens' 'Inspector Bucket' in Bleak House published in 1853 and Wilkie Collins' 'Sergeant Cuff' in The Moonstone published in 1868 were the influence of 'Monsieur Favart' in Night and Morning. Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton PC, was born on 25 May 1803 to General William Earle Bulwer of Heydon Hall and Wood Dalling (later Lord Dalling), Norfolk and Elizabeth Barbara Lytton (daughter of Richard Warburton Lytton of Knebworth, Hertfordshire)and the younger brother of William Earle Lytton Bulwer (1799-1877) and Henry (1801-1872). He was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician. He became instantly popular among the literature loving people and wrote a stream of bestselling novels, which earned him a considerable fortune. He coined the phrases such as "the great unwashed," "pursuit of the almighty dollar," "the pen is mightier than the sword," "dweller on the threshold," and the well-known opening line "It was a dark and stormy night" etc. Edward married Rosina Doyle Wheeler (1802-1882), a famous Irish beauty In August 1827, against his mother's wishes who withdrew his allowance. Edward had to work for his living and had two children, Lady Emily Elizabeth Bulwer-Lytton (1828-1848), and (Edward) Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (1831-189, Governor-General and Viceroy of British India from 1876 to 1880). Edward's writing and political work strained his marriage while his infidelity embittered Rosina. They separated acrimoniously in 1833 and their separation became legal in 1836. Three years later, Rosina published Cheveley, or the Man of Honour (1839), a bitter satire and near-libellous fiction her husband's alleged hypocrisy. In June 1858, when her husband was standing as parliamentary candidate for Hertfordshire, she indignantly denounced him at the Hastings. He retaliated by threatening her publishers, withholding her allowance, and denying her access to their children. Finally he had her committed to a mental asylum but after a public outcry she was released after a few weeks. This incident was chronicled in her memoir, A Blighted Life which was published in 1880 and, later, she continued her attacks upon her husband's character for years. Bulwer-Lytton had long suffered with a disease of the ear and for the last two or three years of his life he lived in Torquay nursing his health. Following an operation to cure deafness, an abscess formed in his ear and burst; he endured intense pain for a week and died at 2am on 18 January 1873 just short of his 70th birthday. The cause of death was not clear but it was thought that the infection had affected his brain and caused a fit. Rosina outlived him by nine years. Against his wishes, Bulwer-Lytton was honored with a burial in Westminster Abbey. His unfinished history Athens: Its Rise and Fall was published posthumously.
