Thomas de Quincey - Complete works in print?

[LeNoirFaineant]

Hi,

Just a quick question:

Did Thomas de Quincey's works ever get collected in a single edition that is anyway affordable?

Of course, there's always e-texts these days, but I still prefer print copies.

Googled a bit, but to no avail. Any ideas about where to look, anybody? :)

Thanks a lot,

Rafe

[stlukesguild]

According to Wikipedia, Selections Grave and Gay, from the Writings, Published and Unpublished, by Thomas De Quincey, c. 1853-60 numbered 14 volumes! From what I have seen of his essential works, one reasonable-sized book should be able to collect everything of importance (Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth, On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts, Lake Reminiscences, Suspiria de Profundis, The English Mail-Coach, Autobiographical Sketches) but I have yet to come across such a volume.

[PeterL]

I have seen his complete works. They take about two feet on a bookshelf. I believe they were printed about a hundred years ago, so you would have to find a library that was clearing space. I have also seen a multi-work volume of his better known writings: On an English Mailcoach, On the Knocking at the Door in Macbeth, Confessions, De superis(sp?),and so on; so you might look at listings of used books.

It doesn't appear that his complete works are available on Gutenberg,com; although there are several volumes of various collections.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search.html/?default_prefix=author_id&sort_order=downloads&query=797

[LeNoirFaineant]

Thanks a lot, everyone!

It would indeed be that 14-volume edition I am looking for.

...Well, let's then what I find hunting through the antiquaries.

Of, course, Project Gutenberg is already a tremendous help. :)

[LeNoirFaineant]

Just found the complete edition, 21 Volumes, at this e-store:

http://www.pickeringchatto.com/major_works/the_works_of_thomas_de_quincey

...Or, I'll simply wait until they're out for kindle or at Penguin's, again.

2,500 Euros, my posterior.

[PeterL]

Just found the complete edition, 21 Volumes, at this e-store:

http://www.pickeringchatto.com/major_works/the_works_of_thomas_de_quincey

...Or, I'll simply wait until they're out for kindle or at Penguin's, again.

2,500 Euros, my posterior.

I would guess that there were only a few hundred printed, so the price makes sense, but I wouldn' pay it. You try searching around sites that have old books as e-texta. I haven't looked for De Quincey, bt there are other authors whose colmplete works are available but not all in one place. Sir Richard Burton is one such. There is a sire dedicated to him that has many of his books available as freee downloads. The E. A. Poe Societry has a large collection of various versions of most of his works.

Tak a look at this sirte:
http://supervert.com/elibrary/thomas_de_quincey/

[stlukesguild]

Seriously, this is a 21 volume, hard-covered edition that undoubtedly employed the efforts of dozens of scholars and researchers unveiling and transcribing every known bit of writing by De Quincey, including diaries, notebooks, personal letters, brief essays published in various periodicals, marginalia, manuscript addenda, etc... The entire set numbers over 10,000 pages and undoubtedly is intended for the purchase primarily by university libraries as well as scholars specializing in De Quincey or English literature of that period. My complete 4 volume set of Proust's In Search of Lost Time would easily sell for over $100. The paperback edition sells for $60+ while used copies of the out-of-print hardcover start at $100+... and this book was published in vast quantities in contrast to the De Qunicey set. As PeterL suggests, the edition was probably of a rather limited run as the publisher undoubtedly recognized that this is not a book for the casual reader... or even the serious student. By decreasing the supply, the cost of each set is accordingly increased to offset the production costs. I greatly doubt you will find a copy of this set in the remainder section of Half-Price Books or at your local library sale anytime soon.

[Myshkin.]

Now I want to read this.

I can barely express how much I hate all three of you.

[LeNoirFaineant]

Yeah, it's a goddamn shame that de Quincey, one of the most important and versatile authors of the 19th century, can essentially be considered "lost" to the general public, apart from some very small tidbits of his work we get to see.

Actually, it's something I notice about quite a lot of 18th and 19th century writers. Try to get the letters of Thomas Gray for example. :reddevil:

All but what is needed for more than the most basic research is tightly locked between library doors that sometimes haven't been opened since Chamberlain was prime minister... *Rumble rumble rant rant.*

[PeterL]

It is surprising that de Quincey's complete works aren't better known, because hr was an important writer, not the one book man that he is often presented to have been.