Charles Robert Maturin (1782-1824) was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College going on
to become a clergyman and writer of Gothic novels and plays. At first a failure his work was
nonetheless noticed by Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron which led to the staging and success of
his tragedy Bertram. (Samuel Taylor Coleridge on the other hand dismissed it as 'melancholy
proof of the depravation of the public mind'.) His later plays and fiction including Melmoth
the Wanderer were neglected and Maturin died in poverty. The work's brilliance was recognised
posthumously and it now endures as one of the most famous gothic novels in English literature.
