It seems to me that one could add Tolstoy, who was 41 when he published War and Peace. The Cossacks, the only of his earlier works I've read, is very readable,

It seems to me that one could add Tolstoy, who was 41 when he published War and Peace. The Cossacks, the only of his earlier works I've read, is very readable, but maybe not the sort of book to make a reputation on its own. And for my tastes, W.B. Yeats didn't hit his stride until he was about 45.