Edward Bulwer (later Bulwer-Lytton) published The Last Days of Pompeii in 1834, at a moment when his literary career and the British fascination with antiquity were simultaneously reaching new heights. Already celebrated for works including Pelham (1828) and Eugene Aram (1832), Bulwer had established himself as a chronicler of modern society and as a major contributor to the silver-fork and Newgate novel genres. The Last Days of Pompeii represents a pivot for Bulwer into the newly emerging classical historical novel – a subgenre of the historical novel which specifically re-imagined the ancient world. This shift proved immediately successful: the novel was a bestseller from its first appearance and remained one of Bulwer’s most widely read works throughout the nineteenth century.
By the 1830s Pompeii occupied a prominent place in the European cultural imagination. While the...
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Citation: den Toom, Lesley. "The Last Days of Pompeii". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 February 2026 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=398, accessed 09 June 2026.]
