William Hazlitt (1778–1830) was one of the greatest of English essayists, and this selection offers a wide range of his writings: it begins with Hazlitt's comments on the romantic poets who were his contemporaries, Wordsworth and Coleridge; it goes on to give a flavour of his influential views on the theatre and the visual arts; and it finishes with some fascinating accounts of the leisure activities of the Romantics, from boxing to juggling to rambles in the countryside. The selection was made by George Sampson in 1917 and reprinted many times thereafter, and the essays are offered with annotations that not only illuminate the texts, but are themselves now of interest as reflecting the period in which they were written. Cambridge University Press is delighted to bring this classic edition back into print.