William Hazlitt

Reproduction of the original: Winterslow by William Hazlitt

Reproduction of the original: The Spirit of the Age by William Hazlitt

Reproduction of the original: Characters of Shakespeare's Plays by William Hazlitt

This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. So that the book is never forgotten we have represented this book in a print format as the same form as it was originally first published. Hence any marks or annotations seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.

Under sin levnad var William Hazlitt (1778-1830) en fruktad kritiker, och många var de som mejades ner av hans oförsonliga essäer, inte minst poeterna Wordsworth och Coleridge. Men Liber Amoris är någonting annat, något så ovanligt som en öppenhjärtig och oförsonlig självbekännelse skriven redan på 1820-talet. Den är Hazlitts konstnärliga omstöpning av en olycklig kärleksaffär som enligt hans egen utsago nästan tog livet av honom. Liber Amoris (Kärlekens bok) publicerades anonymt 1823, samma år som Stendhals De l’Amour såg dagens ljus, och den orsakade omgående skandal. Hazlitt hade vid fyrtiotre års ålder blivit vanvettigt förälskad i en nittonårig flicka, Sarah Walker, som uppvaktade honom i det rum han hade hyrt i 9 Southampton Buildings, och hon skulle förleda honom med sina ”hånfulla omfamningar” och sina ”läppar lika slitna som trapporna”. Han befann sig i ena ögonblicket i himmelriket, för att i nästa, förvirrad och förtvivlad, störta ner i sin själs allra djupaste avgrunder. William Hazlitt anses än idag, tillsammans med Thomas De Quincey och Charles Lamb, vara en av det engelska 1800-talets främsta kritiker och essäister. Denna utgåva innehåller utöver Liber Amoris också Hazlitts roande och skarpa essä ”Om nöjet att hata”. Båda texter är grundligt kommenterade av översättaren Arthur Isfelt, och J.-O. Almblad har skrivit en fyllig inledning.

On the Pleasure of Hating, William Hazlitt's classic contemplation of human hatred, is in this edition accompanied by several of his finest essays. 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.

On the Pleasure of Hating, William Hazlitt's classic contemplation of human hatred, is in this edition accompanied by several of his finest essays. 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.