''Certain Personal Matters'' is an

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puni ...

collection of

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s selected by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

T. Fisher Unwin. The essays in ''Certain Personal Matters'' are written from a consistent first-person perspective, but only one describes an identifiable event in Wells's life—how he responded to being diagnosed with tuberculosis in the fall of 1887. The other essays adopt the playful persona of an aspiring young writer living in modest circumstances with a wife, Euphemia, who is only sketchily and obliquely described. Their tone reflects the demands of the market in London magazines for "short essays, or short stories, often with a twist, which can be read in half a dozen minutes, but which will pique a reader's attention and ultimately allow him to think, 'How true. I have done that myself', or to make some similar remark." More than half of the essays are humorous social satire; serious subjects are addressed only ironically. Politics, historical and economic topics, and identifiable portraiture are eschewed. Ten essays have literary themes, and in these, too, the point of view is humorous. One ("On Schooling and the Phases of Mr. Sandsome") gently critiques the choice of subjects studied in the course of primary and secondary education. Half a dozen essays engage scientific themes, especially

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...

and

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, and in "The Extinction of Man" Wells shows he is contemplating themes that would be expressed in his next novel, ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'': "Even now, for all we can tell, the coming terror may be crouching for its spring and the fall of humanity may be at hand."

Composition and Publication

The essays in ''Certain Personal Matters'' rely on stock characters that Wells developed in his early days as a writer. This vein was inspired by his reading of ''When a Man's Single'', an 1888 novel by J.M. Barrie, in which a character explains that saleable articles can be devised from everyday things like pipes, umbrellas, and flower pots. According to biographer David C. Smith, one character is "probably based on his father (and perhaps partly on his older brothers), another based on his mother apparently (although the character is always referred to as an 'aunt', which may be somewhat symbolic), and a third character, 'Euphemia'. This last is usually thought to be a portrait of Jane atherineWells, though the figure may have some traits of Isabel ells's cousin and first wifeas well." "Wells naturally retained affection for the writings that had launched his career, so much so that he became embroiled in a furious dispute about the contents and title page with the publisher, who eventually had to call in Gissing to act as a mediator and persuade Wells to climb down." ''Certain Personal Matters'' was well received; one critic called it "a very pleasant moneysworth, full of wit and humour." The book sold well and was never remaindered.David C. Smith, ''H.G. Wells: Desperately Mortal: A Biography'' (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986), p. 37.

The essays are presented approximately chronologically rather than thematically: * "Thoughts on Cheapness and My Aunt Charlotte" * "The Trouble of Life" * "On the Choice of a Wife" * "The House of Di Sorno: A Manuscript Found in a Box" * "Of Conversation: An Apology" * "In a Literary Household" * "On Schooling and the Phases of Mr. Sandsome" * "The Poet and the Emporium" * "The Language of Flowers" * "The Literary Regimen" * "House-Hunting as an Outdoor Amusement" * "Of Blades and Bladery" * "Of Cleverness: Apropos of One Crichton" * "The Pose Novel" * "The Veteran Cricketer" * "Concerning a Certain Lady" * "The Shopman" * "The Book of Curses" * "Dunstone's Dear Lady" * "Euphemia's New Entertainment" * "For Freedom of Spelling: The Discovery of an Art" * "Incidental Thoughts on a Bald Head" * "Of a Book Unwritten" * "The Extinction of Man" * "The Writing of Essays" * "The Parkes Museum" * "Bleak March in Epping Forest" * "The Theory of Quotation" * "On the Art of Staying at the Seaside: A Meditation at Eastbourne" * "Concerning Chess" * "The Coal-Scuttle: A Study in Domestic Aesthetics" * "Bagarrow" * "The Book of Essays Dedicatory" * "Through a Microscope: Some Moral Reflections" * "The Pleasure of Quarreling" * "The Amateur Nature Lover" * "From an Observatory" * "The Mode in Monuments: Stray Thoughts in Highgate Cemetery" * "How I Died"

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Certain Personal Matters 1897 non-fiction books Books by H. G. Wells 1897 essays English essay collections Heinemann (publisher) books

Composition and Publication

Contents

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