Aristotle(384 bce–322 bce). Greek philosopher and student of Plato. His work is fundamental to Western philosophy, covering logic, physical science, biology, ethics, politics, metaphysics and rhetoric.

Arnold, Matthew(1822–88). British poet and critic whose writings were deeply influential on literary, social and educational issues. Culture and Anarchy (1869) is one of the major works of Victorian prose and its proposition of the definition and function of culture in society shaped intellectual life in the twentieth century. Arnold was Professor of Poetry at Oxford during Lang's undergraduate years and had a formative effect on him.

Austen, Jane(1775–1817). Novelist, now very well-known and whose works have frequently been adapted for film and television. Although fairly popular in the early nineteenth century, when Walter Scott reviewed her work enthusiastically, she was not the focus of admiration that she later became. Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, for example, were both critical of her narrow range. Lang, perhaps influenced by Scott's appreciation, liked her work.

Ballantyne, James(1772–1833) was a printer who printed the work of Walter Scott. His brother John (1774–1821) started, with Scott, a publishing firm based in Edinburgh in which James also had a small share. The printing business was more successful than the publishing, but both brothers were financially ruined in the 1820s. James particularly was a friend of Scott's and offered editorial advice on many of Scott's works.

Balzac, Honoré de(1799–1850). French novelist and playwright, author of the enormous series of 91 separate works that make up the Comédie Humaine. He aimed to imitate the methods of history and natural science in fiction, in order to give a comprehensive representation of contemporary French society. His Realist practice was influential on French and other European literature, though less immediately on English writing. Lang found Balzac's Realism more congenial than Émile Zola's later work in similar ‘scientific’ style.

Besant, Walter(1836–1901). Writer and social critic, he was the author of several novels including All Sorts and Conditions of Men (1882) and Children of Gibeon (1886) which drew attention to the appalling conditions of poor industrial workers in the East End of London. His work prompted the foundation of the People's Palace in that area in 1887, intended for the intellectual improvement and educational entertainment of local people.