Essays of Elia

Essays of Elia

"Essays of Elia" is a collection of essays written by Charles Lamb; it was first published in book form in 1823, with a second volume, "Last Essays of Elia", issued in 1833 by the publisher Edward Moxon.

The essays in the collection first began appearing in "The London Magazine" in 1820 and continued to 1825. Lamb's essays were highly popular and were printed in many subsequent editions throughout the nineteenth century. The personal and conversational tone of the essays has charmed many readers; "They established Lamb in the title he now holds, that of the most delightful of English essayists." [William Vaughan Moody and Charles Morss Lovett, "A History of English Literature", New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1918; p. 330.] Lamb himself is the Elia of the collection (he borrowed the name of another clerk at the South Sea House where he worked); his sister Mary is "Cousin Bridget."

American editions of both the "Essays" and the "Last Essays" were published in Phildelphia in 1828. At the time, American publishers were unconstrained by nuisances like copyright law, and often reprinted materials from English books and periodicals; so the American collection of the "Last Essays" preceded its British counterpart by five years. [Will D. Howe, "Charles Lamb and His Friends", New York, Bobbs-Merrill, 1944; p. 269.]

Critics have traced the influence of earlier writers in Lamb's style, notably Sir Thomas Browne and Robert Burton [Moody and Lovett, p. 331.] — writers who also influenced Lamb's contemporary and acquaintance Thomas De Quincey.

Some of Lamb's later pieces in the same style and spirit were collected into a body called "Eliana". [Charles Lamb, "The Essays of Elia and Eliana", Barry Cornwall, ed., London, George bell & Sons, 1890.]

The essays

The following essays are included in the collection:

*"The South-Sea House"
*"Oxford In The Vacation"
*"Christ's Hospital Five-And-Thirty Years Ago"
*"The Two Races Of Men"
*"New Year's Eve"
*"Mrs Battle's Opinions On Whist"
*"A Chapter On Ears"
*"All Fools' Day"
*"A Quakers' Meeting"
*"The Old and The New Schoolmaster"
*"Valentine's Day"
*"Imperfect Sympathies"
*"Witches And Other Night-Fears"
*"My Relations"
*"Mackery End, In Hertfordshire"
*"Modern Gallantry"
*"The Old Benchers Of The Inner Temple"
*"Grace Before Meat"
*"My First Play"
*"Dream-Children; A Reverie"
*"Distant Correspondents"
*"The Praise Of Chimney-Sweepers"
*"A Complaint Of The Decay Of Beggars In The Metropolis"
*"A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig"
*"A Bachelor's Complaint Of the Behaviour Of Married People"
*"On Some Of The Old Actors"
*"On The Artificial Comedy Of The Last Century"
*"On The Acting Of Munden".

And in "Last Essays of Elia":

*"Blakesmoor in H——shire"
*"Poor Relations"
*"Detached Thougths on Books and Reading"
*"Stage Illusion"
*"To the Shade of Elliston"
*"Ellistoniana"
*"The Old Margate Hoy"
*"The Convalescent"
*"Sanity of True Genius"
*"Captain Jackson"
*"The Superannuated Man"
*"The Genteel Style of Writing"
*"Barbara S——
*"The Tombs in the Abbey"
*"Amicus Redivivus"
*"Some Sonnets of Sir Philip Sidney"
*"Newspapers Thirty-Five Years Ago"
*"Barrenness of the Imaginative Faculty in the Productions of Modern Art"
*"The Wedding"
*"Rejoicings upon the New Year's Coming of Age"
*"Old China"
*"The Child Angel; a Dream"
*"Confessions of a Drunkard"
*"Popular Fallacies".

Among the individual essays, "Dream Children" and "Old China" are perhaps the most highly and generally admired. [Howe, p. 291.] Lamb's fondness for stage drama provided the subjects of a number of the essays: "My First Play," "Stage Illusion," Ellistoniana," etc. "Blakesmoor in H——shire" was actually written about Blakesware in Hertfordshire, the great house where Lamb's maternal grandmother was housekeeper for many years. [Howe, p. 279.]

References

External links

* [http://www.angelfire.com/nv/mf/elia1/index.html "Essays of Elia"]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Elia Kasanioglou — Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (eigentlich Elia Kazancioglu; * 7. September 1909 in Konstantinopel (Istanbul); † 28. September 2003 in New York) war ein US amerikanischer Regisseur und Schriftsteller …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Elia Kasanioglus — Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (eigentlich Elia Kazancioglu; * 7. September 1909 in Konstantinopel (Istanbul); † 28. September 2003 in New York) war ein US amerikanischer Regisseur und Schriftsteller …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Elia Zoghbi — Elias Zoghbi (* 9. Januar 1912 in Kairo, Ägypten; † 17. Januar 2008) war melkitisch griechisch katholischer Erzbischof von Baalbek im Libanon. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Siehe auch …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ELIA —    the nom de plume adopted by Charles Lamb in connection with his Essays …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Leopoldo Elia — (* 4. November 1925 in Fano; † 5. Oktober 2008 in Rom) war ein italienischer Jurist und Politiker. 1976 wurde Elia vom italienischen Parlament als Richter des Verfassungsgerichtshofes gewählt, von 1981 bis 1985 stand er diesem als Präsident vor.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Charles Lamb — For other uses, see Charles Lamb (disambiguation). Charles Lamb Born 10 February 1775(1775 02 10) Inner Temple, London, England …   Wikipedia

  • Charles Lamb (writer) — Infobox Person name = Charles Lamb imagesize = caption = birth date = birth date|1775|2|10|df=y birth place = Inner Temple, London, England. death date = death date and age|1834|12|27|1775|2|10|df=y death place = Edmonton, London, England. death… …   Wikipedia

  • Lamb, Charles — born Feb. 10, 1775, London, Eng. died Dec. 27, 1834, Edmonton, Middlesex English essayist and critic. Lamb was employed as a clerk at East India House (headquarters for the East India Company) from 1792 to 1825. From 1796 he was guardian of his… …   Universalium

  • Charles Lamb — Foto dedicada de 1823. Nacimiento 10 de febrero de 1775 Londres, Inglaterra …   Wikipedia Español

  • Charles Lamb — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lamb. Mémorial de Charles Lamb, Watch House, Gilspur Street, Londres Charles Lamb, né à Londres le 10 f …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”