1897. Volume One of Six. English essayist and poet, Charles Lamb (pen name Elia), studied at Christ's Hospital where he formed a lifelong friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. When he was twenty years old Lamb suffered a period of insanity. His sister, Mary Ann Lamb, had similar problems and in 1796 murdered her mother in a fit of madness. Mary was confined to an asylum but was eventually released into the care of her brother. Lamb became friends in London with a group of young writers who favored political reform including Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Hazlitt and Leigh Hunt. Among his most remembered works are his collection of Essays of Elia; the poem The Old Familiar Faces and the essay Dream Children. He also wrote Tales from Shakespeare in collaboration with his sister and The Adventures Of Ulysses were valuable retellings of classic works for children. Lamb's critical comments in Specimens of English Dramatic poets who lived about the time of Shakespeare are among the classics of English criticism. Contents: Lamb's Parentage, Schooldays and Youth; Insanity of Mary Lamb-Early Poetic Efforts; Rosamund Gray-John Woodvil; Mr. H.-Temple Lane-The Quarterly Review Attack; Lamb's Suppers; The London Magazine-Wainwright's Story; Visit to Paris-Elia's Letter to Southey-Islington; New Friends-Lamb's Emancipation-Enfield-Edmonton; Lamb's Wednesday Nights-His Companions-Last Glimpses; Lamb's Friends and Companions; Mary Lamb; Lamb Fully Known-His Character; and Correspondence with Coleridge. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.