Today, William Hazlitt is widely regarded as one of the greatest British essayists of all time and possibly the single most gifted writer in that field of prose of the 19th century. What makes this accomplishment all the more impressive is that though Hazlitt was born in 1778, he would not begin seriously setting himself to writing essays until the second decade of the next century. His most well-known works and the essays on which much of his reputation rests would not be written before his fortieth birthday.
Hazlitt took a circuitous route to finding his talent and carving his niche in the gloried history of British literature. He was gifted artist as his portrait of Charles Lamb on display in the National Gallery proves. He also pursued to one degree or another careers in philosophy, politics, and journalism. He even tried making a go at longer, book-length non-fiction studies, but sales were anemic and his talent was better put to use in short-form works of literary criticism, human observation, and political muckraking of a sort.
The overwhelming bulk of the essays which lent him his eventual lofty reputation were published between 1812 and the year of his death, 1830. Initially appearing in periodicals like The Examiner, New Monthly Magazine, Morning Chronicle, The Liberal, Constable's Edinburgh Magazine and others. In addition, collections of Hazlitt’s voluminous output were collected in special editions even during his lifetime. A 20-volume collection of the compete works of Hazlitt was published in the early 20th century.
If that seems like overkill, it should be noted that it might well be easier to list the subjects and topics on which Hazlitt did not publish an essay than those he did. In addition to a volume devoted to nothing but analysis of Shakespeare’s characters and profiles of a number of notable contemporary British figures, the individual essays published on a particular theme is nothing less than breathtaking in scope. If one just considers the various essays which feature the “On _____” title, one will be considering Hazlitt's opinions and analysis on “Milton’s Versification,” “Religious Hypocrisy,” “Disagreeable People,” “Indian Jugglers,” “People with One Idea,” “Sitting for One’s Picture,” and “The Treatment of State Prisoners.” Suffice to say there plenty of other topics on which Hazlitt provided opinions so well and entertainingly written that even if you disagree with him, it is still time well spent.
If the sheer breadth and range of interest were all that Hazlitt could provide, he might well have already been forgotten. He is the rare writer who truly seems capable of writing on any subject and making not just the subject itself interesting, but his opinion on it as well.
