Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck,
1836-1911, English playwright and poet. He won fame as the
librettist of numerous popular operettas, written in
collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. While on
the staff of the magazine Fun, he first became known as the
author of Bab Ballads, amusing but often bitter and cynical
poems, published in that magazine and collected in 1869. His
first play Dulcamara was produced in 1866. It was followed by
several fairly successful comedies, dramas, and burlesques. In
1871, Gilbert began his collaboration with Arthur Sullivan,
lasting about 20 years, which resulted in the popular operettas
for which they are famous. The first of their joint works was
Thespis (1871) and the last was The Grand Duke (1896). Their
most famous operettas are Trial by Jury (1875), H.M.S. Pinafore
(1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), Patience (1881),
Iolanthe (1882), Princess Ida (1884), The Mikado (1885),
Ruddigore (1887), The Yeoman of the Guard (1888), and The