ABSTRACT

First published as the lead article in Tait’s, XVI, July 1847, pp. 431–40. In Tait’s, however, there was an error in pagination and the pages were incorrectly numbered ‘231–40’. Two centred lines followed the title of the essay and immediately preceded the text. The first stated that the essay was ‘BY THOMAS DE QUINCEY.’, and the second that it was ‘(Concluded from page 376.)’ to denote where in Tait’s Part II of the essay ended.