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Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #40988.
The volume gathers the miscellaneous prose of Charles and Mary Lamb, presenting every piece the brothers‑and‑sister wrote for an adult audience from the first work published when Charles was twenty‑three in 1798 up to the final fragments of 1834, the year of his death. The editor’s note explains that this edition condenses a seven‑volume set issued between 1903 and 1905, pruning doubtful material and trimming the original notes while preserving the chronological order of the texts. The opening pages introduce a range of essays, sketches, and reviews, topics as varied as “On the Inconveniences Resulting from Being Hanged,” “The Good Clerk,” and “Memoir of Robert Lloyd”, and even a short story, “Rosamund Gray,” which begins with a quiet scene of a blind grandmother and her granddaughter in a cottage garden. The collection therefore offers a panoramic view of the Lambs’ literary output, excluding only their children’s books, dramatic plays and the Elia essays.
The prose reflects the early‑nineteenth‑century tone of a cultivated, conversational writer who blends wit, moral reflection, and a keen eye for everyday detail. Charles’s voice, often marked by gentle irony and a fondness for anecdote, pairs with Mary’s more earnest, sentimental narratives, creating a complementary texture that will appeal to readers who enjoy period essays, literary criticism, and modestly plotted domestic tales. Scholars of Romantic‑era literature, admirers of essayistic journalism, and anyone drawn to the subtle humor and moral nuance of the Lambs’ lesser‑known works will find this compilation rewarding.
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This edition is the same as that in seven large volumes published between 1903 and 1905, except that it has been revised and amended and arranged in more companionable shape. Some new matter is included; some doubtful matter has been removed; and the notes, although occasionally enriched, have been reduced in number and often condensed. For completer annotation as well as for portraits and accessory illustrations the old edition must be consulted.
The present volume contains all Lamb's prose, with the exception of his work for children, his full notes in the Dramatic Specimens and Garrick Extracts, his prose plays and the Elia essays. The contents have been arranged in their order of publication, the earliest dating from 1798, when Lamb was twenty-three, and the latest belonging to 1834, the year of his death--thus covering the whole of his literary life.
In Mr. Bedford's design for the cover of this edition certain Elian symbolism will be found. The upper coat of arms is that of Christ's Hospital, where Lamb was at school; the lower is that of the Inner Temple, where he was born and spent many years. The figures at the bells are those which once stood out from the façade of St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street, and are now in Lord Londesborough's garden in Regent's Park. Lamb shed tears when they were removed. The tricksy sprite and the candles (brought by Betty) need no explanatory words of mine.
E. V. L.
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