Critical Miscellanies, Vol. 1, Essay 5, Emerson

Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1838-1839) is the title of a collection of reprinted reviews and other magazine pieces by the Scottish philosopher and historian Thomas Carlyle. Along with Sartor Resartus and The French Revolution it was one of the books that made his name. Its subject matter ranges from literary criticism (especially of German literature) to biography, history and social commentary. These essays have been described as "Intriguing in their own right as specimens of graphic and original nonfiction prose…indispensable for understanding the development of Carlyle's mind and literary career", [1] and the scholar Angus Ross has noted that the review-form displays in the highest degree Carlyle's "discursiveness, allusiveness, argumentativeness, and his sense of playing the prophet's part.