I HAVE drawn on P. P. Howe Complete Works of William Hazlitt
for the text of Hazlitt's writings published in this selection.
The time and place of first publication for each of the pieces
printed here is given in the notes at the back of the volume.

The classification of Hazlitt's writing in this edition is my
own invention and does not correspond to any distinctions
made by Hazlitt about his own work. Hazlitt wrote before the
current division of knowledge into separate specialisms and
did not define himself exclusively as a literary critic or a
philosopher or critic of art or political commentator. This has
the positive effect of making him difficult to classify, but his
work can also seem bewilderingly various. The headings which
organize this edition are no more than signposts, designed to
help readers negotiate the variety of Hazlitt's writing. It will
be obvious that some of the pieces printed here could appear
under more than one heading.

Hazlitt's writing can also be an editor's nightmare. His work
is full of allusions, quotations, and echoes of the work of other
writers. This edition is not intended to be exhaustive in its
scholarship, but the notes do provide as many of the sources
for quotations and allusions as I have been able to find. In
most cases original spellings have been retained, except for
printer's errors which have been silently corrected.

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