He was not a business man, and in 1828 he was overwhelmed by financial
difficulties. In the meantime he had become acquainted with the
brilliant but erratic Lord Brougham, who had completed arrangements for
putting into operation one of his great enterprises for educating the
masses. This was the establishment of the Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge. It began a series of publications under the title of
"The Library of Entertaining Knowledge," which Knight published. The
first volume, written by Knight himself, was "The Menageries"; the
second was "The New Zealanders." Other publications were issued by the
society until it was dissolved in 1846. Knight continued to send works
out of the press nearly to the end of his useful life, in March, 1873.
Some of these were written by himself, some by friends, and some were
translations. His "Penny Magazine," at the end of its first year, had a
sale of 200,000 copies. Amongst his other publications are Lane's
"Arabian Nights," "The Pictorial Bible," "The Pictorial History of
England," and--the object of his highest ambition--"The Pictorial
Shakespeare." In "Passages of a Working Life," he wrote his own
biography. In spite of his strenuous life he died a poor man. He was an
enthusiast, but his impetuous nature induced him to attempt to carry out
his schemes before they had matured. He had a quick temper and an
eloquent tongue. The esteem in which he was held by his friends is shown
by the admirable jest with which Douglas Jerrold took leave of him one
evening at a social gathering. "Good Knight," Jerrold said.

The "New Zealanders" was published anonymously, and for many years the
authorship was attributed to Lord Brougham. There is no doubt now,
however, that the author was George Lillie Craik, a scholar and a man of
letters. He was born at Kennoway, Fife, in 1798. He studied at St.
Andrew's, and went through a divinity course, but never applied to be
licensed as a preacher. Like Knight, he was attracted by journalism,