On Murder: Considered as One of the Fine Arts - Softcover

De Quincey, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1534926836 ISBN 13: 9781534926837

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

"On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts" is an essay by Thomas De Quincey first published in 1827 in Blackwood's Magazine. The essay is a fictional, satirical account of an address made to a gentleman's club concerning the aesthetic appreciation of murder. It focuses particularly on a series of murders allegedly committed in 1811 by John Williams in the neighborhood of Ratcliffe Highway, London. The essay was enthusiastically received and led to numerous sequels, including "A Second Paper on Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts" in 1839 and a "Postscript" in 1854. These essays have exerted a strong influence on subsequent literary representations of crime and were lauded by such critics as G. K. Chesterton, Wyndham Lewis and George Orwell. De Quincey also refers to the Williams murders in his "On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth".

About this title

About the Author

Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) studied at Oxford, failing to take his degree but discovering opium. He later met Coleridge, Southey and the Wordsworths. From 1828 until his death he lived in Edinburgh and made his living from journalism.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1534926836
• ISBN 13: 9781534926837
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 28