_Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer, Baron Lytton (born 1803, died
1873), was an extremely accomplished and versatile man. He was a
statesman, orator, social reformer, playwright, poet, novelist (he
wrote more than fifty volumes of fiction), and short story writer.
In the latter capacity he produced a number of imaginative tales that
in their weird fantasy have been favorably compared with the work of
Edgar Allan Poe. Of these the present story is the most noted._