ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the works of de Quincey, and sketches the life and manners of de Quincey. De Quincey refers to the Emperor’s Meditations, written in Greek. Philosophical and aesthetic affinities may explain De Quincey’s discreet parallel between his own Sketches and the Emperor’s Meditations. De Quincey refers to some historical account of Guinea, with an Inquiry into the rise and progress of the slave-trade. De Quincey’s unconventional spirit, coupled with a certain anti-French bias, can be seen in his appreciation of vernacular letter writing, including women’s writing, over and above the epistolary production of the Encyclopedists.