Twenty-Two Essays of William Hazlitt. Selected by Arthur Beatty. (The Harrap Library)

William Hazlitt dabbled in both fine arts and philosophy, painting at the Louvre and lecturing in London on his work On the Principles of Human Action, before establishing himself as a literary critic and essayist. He began his literary career in journalism , first publishing The Characters of Shakespeare's Plays (1817.) Hazlitt was called 'a lesser Dr. Johnson' for two of his early volumes of essays, The Round Table and Table Talk, and wrote extensively on British drama and poetry. His prose is widely acclaimed for its grace and precision.