This is a new release of the original 1930 edition.

Table Talk Essays on Men and Manners by William Hazlitt Table-Talk is a collection of essays by the English cultural critic and social commentator William Hazlitt. It was originally published as two volumes, the first of which appeared in April 1821. The essays deal with topics such as art, literature and philosophy. Duncan Wu has described the essays as the "pinnacle of [Hazlitt's] achievement," and argues that Table-Talk and The Plain Speaker (1826) represent Hazlitt's masterpiece. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

On the Pleasure of Hating, William Hazlitt's classic contemplation of human hatred, is in this edition accompanied by several of his finest essays in large print. As one of England's most distinguished wits of the early 19th century, William Hazlitt was an accomplished author, painter and critic whose barbed prose was notorious in literary circles at the time. Hazlitt wrote the titular essay of this collection in 1826, when his personal circumstances were strained; we thus find his tone both markedly resentful and embittered. On the Pleasure of Hating is, however, among the finest and most consistently insightful and lucid works Hazlitt ever wrote. Perhaps Hazlitt's greatest claim to prowess was his ability to produce succinct and quotable passages. Each of the six essays in this compendium contain prime examples of the perceptive phrases and summations which Hazlitt regularly produced in his prime. Although typically misanthropic and sour, the author's ability to recognizing and eviscerate aspects of human nature and emotion is lightened by humor and occasionally sarcasm. William Hazlitt's writing style would flourish relatively late in life; the essays in this collection were written while he was already in his mid-to-late-forties. Yet the knowledge is derived from Hazlitt's own experiences; disappointments in love and vilification by rivals led him to reflect upon the human emotions and particularly man's capacity for hatred, which he found fascinating for its power and poignancy.

Table-Talk is a collection of essays by the English cultural critic and social commentator William Hazlitt. It was originally published as two volumes, the first of which appeared in April 1821. The essays deal with topics such as art, literature and philosophy. Duncan Wu has described the essays as the "pinnacle of Hazlitt's achievement", and argues that Table-Talk and The Plain Speaker (1826) represent Hazlitt's masterpiece.