D'israeli, Isaac

1766–1848, English critic and historian, b. London; father of Benjamin Disraeli. Born into a wealthy Jewish family, he produced his first poem at the age of 14. His best-known work is Curiosities of Literature (6 vol., 1791–1834), a miscellany of literary and historical anecdotes and original material. D'Israeli's five-volume study of Charles I (1828–31) marked a great advance in methods of historical research and earned him the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law at Oxford.