Essays of Elia

Charles Lamb's series of personal essays published under the pseudonym 'Elia' in the London Magazine between 1820 and 1825, collected in book form in 1823, with a second series (The Last Essays of Elia) following in 1833. The essays range from nostalgic recollections of Lamb's London childhood and his years as a clerk at the East India Company to whimsical meditations on books, food, and human eccentricities — written in a style that blends arch humor, erudite allusion, and genuine pathos. Lamb's older sister Mary, with whom he lived, appears in many essays under the name 'Cousin Bridget'; she had killed their mother in a fit of madness in 1796, and Charles had become her legal guardian. Carnegie wrote in his autobiography: 'Lamb's essays were my special delight, but I had at this time no knowledge of the great master of all, Shakespeare.'