The songwriting team of William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan was among the most successful and enduring of the 19th century; their comic operas remain immensely popular over a century after the duo's final work, and are viewed today as forerunners of contemporary musical theater. Lyricist Gilbert was born in London on November 18, 1836; the son of a retired naval surgeon, he was kidnapped by Italian brigands at the age of two, but upon his release settled into a rather unremarkable childhood, eventually joining the militia. After first accepting a government bureau job, Gilbert later spent a few years as a barrister, and in 1861 began contributing humor and dramatic criticism to the popular British publication Fun under the pseudonym "Bab; " a collection of his work for the magazine was published in 1869 as The Bab Ballads, and a number of his stories' characters later served as the direct inspiration for his musical work.
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