The Round Table: a Collection of Essays on Literature, Men, and Manners, by W. Hazlitt and J.H.L. Hunt

The Round Table: A Collection Of Essays On Literature, Men, And Manners, By W. Hazlitt And J.H.L. Hunt. The Round Table is a volume of critical and satirical essays on literature, art, and social life from early 19th century Britain. The pieces address topics such as On Beauty, On Imitation, On Gusto, and On Pedantry, followed by longer portraits and critiques including On the Character of Rousseau, On the Same Subject, On the Literary Character, On Common Place Critics, and On the Catalogue Raisonné of the British Institution. The authors explore aesthetics, the nature of beauty, the practice of imitation in art and science, and the pitfalls of pedantry, while offering vigorous analyses of public figures and literary trends. They debate the progress of art, the role of critics, and the relation between genius and fame, mixing wit with moral and social observation. Published in 1817 in Edinburgh, this collection captures Hazlitt and Hunts distinctive voice in a sequence of essays that survey literature and manners with lively intelligence.