Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912)
Scottish scholar and poet. Lang studied at St. Andrews University and Oxford, where he held a fellowship at Merton College until 1875. He settled in London and soon became a famous critic for "The Daily News" and other newspapers. He distinguished himself for his poetry - Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872) and Helen of Troy (1882) - as well as for his novels - The Mark of Cain (1886) and The Disentanglers (1902). However, his fame is mainly related to his vast collection of fairy tales such as The Blue Fairy Book (1889) and The Lilac Fairy Book (1910) and to his own fairy tales - The Gold of Faimilee (1888), Prince Prigio (1889) and Prince Ricardo of Pantouflia (1893) - which soon became children's classics.
His work also includes important studies on the concept of myth and religion - Custom and Myth (1884) and Myth, Ritual and Religion (1887) - and on history - Pickle the Spy (1897); A History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation, 4 vol. (1900 - 07) and others.
In addition to poetry and criticism, Lang was an established translator. He published the Odissey (1879), which he translated. in collaboration with S.H. Butcher, and the Iliad (1883), translated with Walter Leaf and Ernest Myers.