ABSTRACT
When De Quincey was a pupil at Winkfield School in the small Wiltshire village of Winkfield, today known as Wingfield, Academically untaxing though it proved to be under its headmaster and local rector, the Rev. Edward Spencer, the private school, with its thirty or so pupils, nonetheless initiated the young De Quincey's 'public' writing career. Original source of publication unavailable; not republished during De Quincey's lifetime. There is no known manuscript. Unpublished in De Quincey's lifetime. A holograph manuscript of the complete piece is held in the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library. It consists of a single sheet folded once to give two leaves 160 by 200 mm, each bearing writing on both sides; ink is black faded to brown and the sheet carries an undated watermark 'Molineux Johnston& A Lee'.
