Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866) was a lifelong and assiduous letter-writer at a time when the familiar letter was often virtually an art-form in itself. He had a wide circle of correspondents, and was a close friend of Shelley, whom he assisted over both personal and business affairs after Shelley's abandonment of his wife Harriet and departure to Italy. Friend also of many Radicals of the early nineteenth century, his letters often display the satiric wit of his published prose works such as Headlong Hall and Crotchet Castle. In the later part of his life he rose to high position in the East India Company's service, succeeding James Mill, under whom he had worked, as Examiner. This is the first time his extensive correspondence has been gathered together and given scholarly annotation: the two-volume edition will be invaluable both to students of Romantic literature and to historians of the period.
