John Lyly

John Lyly (1554?-1606), English dramatist, born in Kent, and educated at the University of Oxford. He was patronized by the English statesman William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, who gave him a post in his household. Lyly's most famous work, one of the best examples of 16th-century prose, is in two parts: Euphues, or the Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Euphues and His England (1580). The work is characterized by witty discourses on the subject of love and an affected, ornate style that was thenceforth known as “euphuism.” Among Lyly's plays are the prose comedy Alexander and Campaspe (1584), the allegorical play in prose Endymion, the Man in the Moone (1591), and the comedy The Woman in the Moone (1597).