H. A. Guerber was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan, in 1859. With the exception of her education, for which she went to Paris, France, she lived most of her adult life in New Jersey, where she died in 1929. A teacher by profession, Guerber devoted her life to educating her fellow citizens about European literary and cultural history through the publication of about three dozen books on a vast array of topics ranging from famous operas to Jewish history to Shakespeares plays.