Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911), English playwright and humorist, 1911-1912. Gilbert is best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre The Mikado. Gilbert also wrote the Bab Ballads, an extensive collection of light verse accompanied by his own comical drawings. His creative output included over 75 plays and libretti, numerous stories, poems, lyrics and various other comic and serious pieces. His plays and realistic style of stage direction inspired other dramatists, including Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. From Penrose's Pictorial Annual 1911-1912, The Process Year Book, volume 17, edited by William Gamble and published by AW Penrose (London, 1911-1912).