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ELIA; and THE LAST ESSAYS OF ELIA
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This volume contains the work by which Charles Lamb is best known andupon which his fame will rest—Elia and The Last Essays of Elia.Although one essay is as early as 1811, and one is perhaps as late as1832, the book represents the period between 1820 and 1826, when Lambwas between forty-five and fifty-one. This was the richest period ofhis literary life.
The text of the present volume is that of the first edition of eachbook—Elia, 1823, and The Last Essays of Elia, 1833. The principaldifferences between the essays as they were printed in the LondonMagazine and elsewhere, and as they were revised for book form bytheir author, are shown in the Notes, which, it should be pointed out,are much fuller in my large edition. The three-part essay on "The OldActors" (London Magazine, February, April, and October, 1822), fromwhich Lamb prepared the three essays; "On Some of the Old Actors,""The Artificial Comedy of the Last Century," and "The Acting ofMunden," is printed in the Appendix as it first appeared. The absenceof the "Confessions of a Drunkard" from this volume is due to the factthat Lamb did not include it in the first edition of The Last Essaysof Elia. It was inserted later, in place of "A Death-Bed," on accountof objections that were raised to that essay by the family ofRandal Norris. The story is told in the notes to "A Death-Bed." The"Confessions of a Drunkard" will be found in Vol. I.
In Mr. Bedford's design for the cover of this edition certain Eliansymbolism will be found. The upper coat of arms is that of Christ'sHospital, where Lamb was at school; the lower is that of the InnerTemple, where he was born and spent many years. The figures at thebells are those which once stood out from the façade of St. Dunstan'sChurch in Fleet Street, and are now in Lord Londesborough's garden inRegent's Park. Lamb shed tears when they were removed. The tricksysprite and the candles (brought by Betty) need no explanatory words ofmine.
The South-Sea House 1 342
Oxford in the Vacation 8 345
Christ's Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago 14 350
The Two Races of Men 26 355
New Year's Eve 31 358
Mrs. Battle's Opinions on Whist 37 361
A Chapter on Ears 43 363
All Fools' Day 48 367
A Quaker's Meeting 51 367
The Old and the New Schoolmaster 56 369
Valentine's Day 63 370
Imperfect Sympathies 66 370
Witches, and other Night-Fears