History of the World (1614), written in the Tower of London, where he lay for about thirteen years. His work is ‘one of the finest models of our quaint and stately old English style.’ WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE, 1564-1616. Dramatist and poet; born at Stratford-on-Avon; went to London at the age of twenty-two; left London in 1609, and from that time lived in his native town. _Tragedies_ and _Comedies_, and _Historical Plays_; thirty-seven in all. Among his greatest tragedies are, _Hamlet_, _Lear_, _Macbeth_, _Othello_, _Romeo and Juliet_. Of his comedies the best are the _Tempest_, _Midsummer Night’s Dream_, _As you like it_, _Merchant of Venice_, &c. Of his historical plays, _Richard III._ and _Julius Cæsar_ are specially worth mention. _Minor Poems._ Wrote no prose. BEN JONSON, 1574-1637. Dramatist; poet; prose-writer. _Tragedies and Comedies_, of the latter, the greatest are _Volpone or the Fox_; _Every Man in His Humour_; and _The Alchemist_. WILLIAM DRUMMOND, 1585-1649. Poet. _Sonnets_ and _Religious Poems_. SIR THOMAS BROWNE, 1605-1682. Medical practitioner at Norwich. Religio Medici (the religion of a physician), contains the author’s opinions on a great variety of subjects; Urn Burial, a learned and eloquent work. JOHN MILTON, 1608-1674. Poet; Latin secretary to Cromwell (1649). Became blind in 1654. _Minor Poems_; _Paradise Lost_; _Paradise Regained_; _Samson Agonistes_. Many prose works, chiefly on politics, and in defence of the Commonwealth. THOMAS HOBBES, 1588-1679. Philosopher. Leviathan (1651), a great philosophical and political work. JEREMY TAYLOR, 1613-1667. Bishop of Down in Ireland. Holy Living and Holy Dying (1649); and many other books and sermons. SAMUEL BUTLER, 1612-1680. Secretary to the Earl of Carberry. _Hudibras_ (1663), a mock-heroic poem, written to caricature the Puritans. JOHN DRYDEN, 1631-1700. Poet-laureate and Historiographer Royal. Also a playwright; poet; prose-writer; critic. _Annus Mirabilis_ (1667)--a poem on the _Plague_ and the _Fire of London_; _Absalom and Achitophel_ (1681)--a poem on political matters; _Hind and Panther_ (1687). He wrote many _Tragedies_ and _Comedies_ and _Odes_; a translation of the _Æneid_ of Virgil. He wrote a great deal of the best prose--chiefly Essays and Introductions to his poems. JOHN BUNYAN, 1628-1688. Tinker and preacher. The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678); the Holy War, and other works. JOHN LOCKE, 1632-1704. Member of the Board of Trade; one of the leading men in English philosophy. Letters on Toleration (1689); Essay concerning the Human Understanding (1690); Thoughts concerning Education, and other prose works. DANIEL DEFOE, 1661-1731.