Samuel Rowlands

Who was Samuel Rowlands?

Samuel Rowlands was an English author of pamphlets in prose and verse, which reflect the follies and humours of the lower middle-class life of his time. He seems to have had no contemporary literary reputation; but his work throws considerable light on the development of popular literature and social life in London of his day.

He spent his life in London, and it is thought that he kept close contact with the middle and lower classes of London society. It is also believed that from 1600–1615 he worked for William White, and then George Loftus, booksellers who published Rowlands' pamphlets during this time.