Sidney Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee, on 5 December, 1859, in Bloomsbury, London. His father, Lazarus Lee, was a millinery warehouseman. Lee was educated at the City of London School, Cheapside. His obituary in

The Times

in March 1926, cited the Headmaster of the school, Dr Edwin Abbott, as a key influence on the young scholar. Abbott, best known for his book

Flatland

(1884), was a keen advocate of the study of English, particularly Elizabethan, literature.

Lee entered Balliol College in 1878. It is popularly believed that while at Balliol he changed his name at the behest of the Master, Benjamin Jowett. There is no evidence for this. Lee graduated in 1882 as Solomon Lazarus Lee, and any work of his published between 1880 and 1884 bears the initials S. L. Lee. The name Sidney first

1495 words

Citation: Owens, Rebekah . "Sidney Lee". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 March 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13331, accessed 19 March 2024.]

13331 Sidney Lee 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.