The Life of William Hazlitt

Excerpt from the Preface:This book is an attempt to present in clear outline, and with reasonable attention to detail, a narrative of what has been termed the "rather imperfectly known life" of a great English man of letters. In seeking to render it a little less imperfectly known I have not spared any pains, and I have not, I believe, sought to evade any difficulties. Since a good deal which has hitherto been believed of Hazlitt has proved itself to be not altogether worthy of credence, and since a good deal more is told in these pages for the first time, I have thought it better not to recast the narrative in my own words, but to present it as far as possible in those of the various witnesses. If this method has disadvantages, of which I am conscious, it will be found also, I hope, to have certain advantages, not the least of which is that everything which appears in this book bears its own authority, good or less good, on its face. In a life the groundwork of which has already been fixed this would not be a matter of so much importance, but a life of Hazlitt is still after a hundred, years in the nature of a pioneer work. It is so, at least, that I have regarded it, and if on my groundwork a more attractive and lasting superstructure is one day erected I shall be the last to complain.

• ISBN-13: 9781598388572
• 498 pages
• Paperback : 6 x 9 inches