Everything about Thomas De Quincey totally explained
Thomas de Quincey (
August 15,
1785 –
December 8,
1859) was an
English author and intellectual, best known for his book
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822).
Life and work
Child and student
He was born in
Manchester,
England. His father was a successful businessman with an interest in literature who died when Thomas was quite young. Soon after Thomas's birth the family moved to The Farm and then later to Greenhay, a larger country house near Manchester. In
1796 De Quincey's mother, now a widow, moved to
Bath and enrolled him at
King Edward's School, Bath.
Thomas was a weak and sickly child. His youth was spent in solitude, and when his elder brother, William, came home, he wreaked havoc in the quiet surroundings. De Quincey's mother (who counted
Hannah More amongst her friends) was a woman of strong character and intelligence, but seems to have inspired more awe than affection in her children. She brought them up very strictly, taking Thomas out of school after three years because she was afraid he'd become big-headed, and sending him to an inferior school at Winkfield in
Wiltshire.
In
1800, De Quincey, aged fifteen, was ready for the
University of Oxford; his scholarship was far in advance of his years. "That boy," his master at Bath School had said, "that boy could harangue an Athenian mob better than you or I could address an English one." He was sent to
Manchester Grammar School, in order that after three years' stay he might obtain a scholarship to
Brasenose College, Oxford, but he took flight after nineteen months.
His first plan had been to reach
William Wordsworth, whose
Lyrical Ballads (
1798) had consoled him in fits of depression and had awakened in him a deep reverence for the poet. But for that De Quincey was too timid, so he made his way to
Chester, where his mother dwelt, in the hope of seeing a sister; he was caught by the older members of the family, but, through the efforts of his uncle, Colonel Penson, received the promise of a
guinea a week to carry out his later project of a solitary tramp through
Wales. From July to November,
1802, De Quincey lived as a wayfarer. He soon lost his guinea by ceasing to keep his family informed of his whereabouts, and had difficulty making ends meet. Still apparently fearing pursuit, he borrowed some money and travelled to
London, where he tried to borrow more. Having failed, he lived close to starvation rather than return to his family.
Discovered by chance by his friends, De Quincey was brought home and finally allowed (
1803) to go to
Worcester College, Oxford, on a reduced income. Here, we're told, "he came to be looked upon as a strange being who associated with no one." During this time he began to take
opium. He left, apparently about
1807, without a degree. In the same year he made the acquaintance of
Samuel Taylor Coleridge and
William Wordsworth, having already sought out
Charles Lamb in London. His acquaintance with Wordsworth led to his settling in
1809 at
Grasmere, in the beautiful English
Lake District; his home for ten years was
Dove Cottage, which Wordsworth had occupied and which is now a popular tourist attraction. De Quincey was married in
1816, and soon after, having no money left, he took up literary work in earnest.
Translator and essayist
In
1821 he went to London to dispose of some translations from German authors, but was persuaded first to write and publish an account of his
opium experiences, which that year appeared in the
London Magazine. This new sensation eclipsed Lamb's
Essays of Elia, which were then appearing in the same periodical. The
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater were soon published in book form. De Quincey then made literary acquaintances.
Tom Hood found the shrinking author "at home in a German ocean of literature, in a storm, flooding all the floor, the tables, and the chairs—billows of books."
Richard Woodhouse speaks of the "depth and reality of his knowledge. ... His conversation appeared like the elaboration of a mine of results. ... Taylor led him into political economy, and the study of classics."
From this time on De Quincey maintained himself by contributing to various magazines. He soon exchanged London and the Lakes for
Edinburgh and its suburb,
Lasswade, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and its rival
Tait's Magazine received a large number of contributions.
The English Mail-Coach appeared in
1849 in Blackwood.
Joan of Arc had already been published (
1847) in
Tait. De Quincey throughout his life drank
laudanum—after
1821, twice in great excess. During his last years he nearly completed a collected edition of his works.
Influence
His immediate influence extended to
Edgar Allan Poe,
Fitz Hugh Ludlow and
Charles Baudelaire, but even major
20th century writers such as
Jorge Luis Borges admired and claimed to be partly influenced by his work.
Berlioz also loosely based his
Symphonie Fantastique on
Confessions of an English Opium Eater, drawing on the theme of the internal struggle with one's self. De Quincey is also referred to in the
Sherlock Holmes short story
The Man with the Twisted Lip.
Online texts
Bibliography
Selected works:
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1822
On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth, 1823
Walladmor, 1825
Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts, 1827
Klosterheim, or The Masque, 1832
Lake Reminscences, 1834-40
The Logic of the Political Economy, 1844
Suspiria de Profundis, 1845
The English Mail Coach, 1849
Autobiographical Sketches, 1853
Selections Grave and Gay, from the Writings, Published and Unpublished, by Thomas De Quincey, 1853-1860 (14 vols.)
Romances and Extravaganzas, 1877
Collected Writings, 1889
Uncollected Writings, 1890
The Posthumous Works, 1891-93
Memorials, 1891
Literary Criticism, 1909
The Diary, 1928
Selected Writings, 1937
Recollections of the Lake Poets, 1948 (written 1830-40)
New Essays, 1966
Literarische Portraits. Schiller, Herder, Lessing, Goethe, German Translation by Thomas Klandt. revonnah Verlag Hannover. ISBN 3-927715-95-6
The Works of Thomas De Quincey, 21 vols (London: Pickering and Chatto, 2000-2003) [Thisis the most up to date and scholarly edition]Further Information
Get more info on 'Thomas De Quincey'.
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