William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man

Romanticism is where the modern age begins, and Hazlitt was its most articulate spokesman. No one else had the ability to see it whole; no one else knew so many of its politicians, poets, and philosophers. By interpreting it for his contemporaries, he speaks to us of ourselves - of the culture and world we now inhabit. Perhaps the most important development of his time, the creation of a mass media, is one that now dominates our lives. Hazlitt's livelihood was dependent on it. As the biography argues, he took political sketch-writing to a new level, invented sports commentary as we know it, and created the essay-form as practised by Clive James, Gore Vidal, and Michael Foot. Duncan Wu's profile of one of the greatest journalists in the language draws on over a decade of archival research in libraries across Britain and North America, to reveal for the first time such matters as why Godwin broke with Hazlitt; how Hazlitt came to know Sir John Soane and J. M. W. Turner; the true nature of Hazlitt's dealings with Thomas Medwin, and what the likes of Joseph Farington and Sir Thomas Lawrence thought of him. In addition, it sheds new light on Hazlitt's dealings with such figures as Francis Jeffrey, Robert Stodart, John M'Creery, Henry Crabb Robinson, Joseph Parkes, John Cam Hobhouse, and Stendhal. It benefits also from Wu's New Writings of William Hazlitt, many of which make their appearance here, illuminating hitherto obscure passages of Hazlitt's life.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Prologue Part I: The Road to Nether Stowey Part II: Beyond Xanadu Part III: A Philosopher in Grub Street Part IV: The Plain Speaker Part V: The New Pygmalion Part VI: Mr Hazlitt's Grand Tour Part VII: London Solitude Epilogue

About the Author :
Duncan Wu is Professor of English at Georgetown University.

Review :
`Review from previous edition This is a tantalising and revealing picture of William Hazlitt' The Irish Times `Duncan Wu's major biography of William Hazlitt insists on Hazlitt's central importance as a critic who is one of the greatest of English prose stylists. Here we can see, freshly and uniquely, the sometimes tortured life out of which the supreme essays came. ' Tom Paulin `I have been absolutely delighted by Duncan Wu's new biography, which places the essayist in context and provides a fresh, readable introduction to his life and works. He has managed also to present countless new perspectives and revelations along the way. ' Michael Foot `This biography is a fluent and impassioned defence of Hazlitt against his detractors.' Ronan McDonald, The Observer `A winning combination of scholarly rigour and narrative panache.' The Independent on Sunday. Jonathan Wright. `Wu is the foremost authority on Hazlitt and makes a worthwhile case for Hazlitt as an essayist very much superior to Lamb and De Quincey.' The Times `A much needed concise, clear and readable account.' Sarah Burton Matthew, The Independent `I greatly enjoyed this major new biography...an exceptional study.' Times Higher Education Supplement `Wu's biography is, like its subject, passionately partisan.' Sunday Times