The English playwright and poet Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) collaborated with Sir Arthur Sullivan to create a famous series of comic operas.

William Gilbert was born in London, the son of a retired naval surgeon who became a prolific novelist. As an infant, he traveled to Germany and Italy with his parents, was kidnaped by brigands in Naples, and was later ransomed--almost a scenario for his later operettas. After receiving a fine education at Boulogne, France, and then at the University of London, the young man was granted a military commission in the Gordon Highlanders. He spent 4 years as a clerk in the education department of the Privy Council, studied law with no particular distinction, and drifted into journalism.

Gilbert contributed drama criticism and humorous verse to various London periodicals under his boyhood nickname "Bab" and also illustrated several of his father's novels. His artwork for his...