Browse Items (16 total)

Advertisement for the Italian Mosaic and Marble Co. of Canada, Ltd. published in a 1915 directory of the City of Toronto.

Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. He was born on May 7, 1812, in South London, England. The most important event in…

Widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London about 1340. Chaucer wrote in Middle English, the form of English used from 1100 to about 1485. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is considered to be among…

Sara Jeannette Duncan, also known as Mrs. Everard Cotes, was born December 22, 1861 in Brantford, Ontario. She attended Central School and later Brantford Collegiate Institute. She also attended the Toronto Normal School. She was the first female…

An exterior view of the Weston branch of the Toronto Public Library.

English religious poet, hymn writer and musician, Frances Ridley Havergal was born on December 14, 1836 at Astley, Worcestershire into a cultured, religious family. “Thy Life for Me” is one of her best known hymns. She also wrote hymn melodies,…

An interior view of the Weston Branch of the Toronto Public Library.

Regarded as one of the greatest figures of 18th century life and letters, Samuel Johnson (usually known as Dr. Johnson) was a writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic,…

An outstanding exponent of the Canadian school of nature poets, Archibald Lampman was born on November 17, 1861 in Morpeth, Ontario, a village near Chatham. Lampman was repelled by the mechanization of urban life and escaped to the countryside…

English Whig politician, essayist, poet and historian, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay of Rothley was born on October 25, 1800 in Leicestershire. Macaulay studied law and was called to the bar in 1826 but never practised seriously. He…