This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This book contains a collection of essays by William Hazlitt. They were collected this form by George Sampson and first published by in 1917. This anthology includes all of Hazlitt’s essays from "The Round Table" to the posthumous pieces. The first four essays show him as the 'Boswell of Lamb' and the candid friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge. The next three are an extension of this group, forming a pleasant parallel to 'Lamb’s Detached Thoughts on Books and Reading' and his delightful essays on the old actors. The last three show us Hazlitt savouring things of the world, rejoicing in the multitude of sporting crowds and in the solitude of lonely wanderings. Contents include: “My First Acquaintance with Poets”, “On the Conversation of Authors”, “Of Persons One would Wish to have Seen”, “On Reading Old Books”, “On Actors and Acting”, “On a Landscape of Nicholas Poussin”, “On the Pleasure of Painting”, “The Fight”, “The Indian Jugglers”, etcetera. William Carew Hazlitt (1834 - 1913) was an English writer, editor, and lawyer. His father was the barrister and registrar William Hazlitt, his grandfather the writer and critic William Hazlitt, and his great-grandfather the author and minister by the same name. Many vintage texts such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.