A pioneer in comparative philology, Friedrich Max Müller (1823-1900) is credited with popularising the subject in Victorian Britain. His hugely successful Royal Institution lectures, first published in two volumes in 1861-4, explore a range of philological topics and were reprinted fifteen times before the end of the century.
Published 1861-4, these two volumes of lectures on philological topics, reprinted multiple times, enthused Victorian readers, including George Eliot.