In reading about De Quincey, do not fail to read De Quincey
himself.
The best criticism of the Opium-Eater's work is found in William
Minto's _Manual of English Prose Literature_ (Ginn & Co.). A shorter
essay is contained in Saintsbury's _History of Nineteenth Century
Literature_. A very valuable list of all De Quincey's writings, in
chronological order, is given by Fred N. Scott, in his edition of De
Quincey's essays on _Style, Rhetoric_, and _Language_ (Allyn & Bacon).
Numerous magazine articles may be found by referring to Poole's Index.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Autobiographic Sketches_, Chap. I.
[2] _Ibid._
[3] _Confessions of an English Opium-Eater_, Part II.
[4] _De Quincey_ (_English Men of Letters_), David Masson, p. 110.
HOW TO READ DE QUINCEY.
"De Quincey's sixteen volumes of magazine articles are
full of brain from beginning to end. At the rate of
about half a volume a day, they would serve for a
month's reading, and a month continuously might be
worse expended. There are few courses of reading from
which a young man of good natural intelligence would
come away more instructed, charmed, and stimulated, or,
to express the matter as definitely as possible, with
his mind more _stretched_. Good natural intelligence, a
certain fineness of fibre, and some amount of scholarly
education, have to be presupposed, indeed, in all
readers of De Quincey. But, even for the fittest
readers, a month's complete and continuous course of De
Quincey would be too much.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35