Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) was an English author of poetry, plays, and novels. He served under Queen Victoria as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1858-1859. He is famous for having written the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night" as well as "The pen is mightier than the sword" and "pursuit of the almighty dollar." Among his many works of fiction, he wrote The Coming Race which drew heavily on his interest in the Occult, contributing to the birth of the Science Fiction genre. His story The Haunters and the Haunted, or, The House and the Brain, was immensely popular in 1859, but was largely forgotten until the 1920's when H.P. Lovecraft made mention of it.