''The Round Table'' is a collection of essays by

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...

and

Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centr ...

published in 1817. Hazlitt contributed 40 essays, while Hunt submitted 12.Bate 2004.

Background

The content of ''The Round Table'' was mostly taken from Hunt and Hazlitt's contributions to '' The Examiner'', a newspaper which Hunt edited. The material for the first volume was sent to the printer as a collection of newspaper cuttings.Wu 2008, p. 184. The process of publishing the collection had begun in late 1815, but much of the following year was lost to delays caused by its Edinburgh-based publisher,

Archibald Constable Archibald David Constable (24 February 1774 – 21 July 1827) was a Scottish publisher, bookseller and stationer. Life Constable was born at Carnbee, Fife, son of the land steward to the Earl of Kellie. In 1788 Archibald was apprenticed to Pe ...

, who doubted that a collection of newspaper articles would have much success. The two volumes were finally published on 14 February 1817, and were sold at the price of fourteen shillings. Sales were slow, and the text was not reprinted during Hazlitt's lifetime.Wu 2008, p. 210. The essays covered subjects such as art, literature and theatre, and Hunt contributed several essays about ordinary subjects such as washerwomen and the joys of spending time by the fireside.

Reception

''The Round Table'' was received favourably by the poet

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

. As with many of Hazlitt's works, it received a very negative assessment from the ''

Quarterly Review The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River ...

''. In appraising the work, the reviewers deliberately confused the lighthearted essays written by Hunt with those by Hazlitt. Hunt's essays—particularly the chapter on washerwomen—would be derided by the ''Quarterly Review'' and ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

'' for years after ''The Round Tables publication.Jones 1991, p. 209.

Notes

References

* Bate, Jonathan. "Hazlitt, William (1778–1830), writer and painter", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. * Grayling, A.C. ''The Quarrel of the Age: The Life and Times of William Hazlitt''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000. * Jones, Stanley. ''Hazlitt: A Life from Winterslow to Frith Street''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1991 (originally published 1989). * Paulin, Tom. ''The Day-Star of Liberty: William Hazlitt's Radical Style''. London: Faber and Faber, 1998. * Wu, Duncan. ''William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008
pbk. ed., 2010

External links

Volume 1
an
volume 2
of the first edition at Google Books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Round Table (1817 book), The 1817 non-fiction books Essay collections Books by William Hazlitt Works by Leigh Hunt Constable & Co. books