Author

William Hazlitt(1778–1830)

William Hazlitt is documented in Fuller’s letters, published essays, and journals (1839–1845). 3 distinct works are named, most often in Hazlitt’s Table-Talk., and the most intensive engagement recorded is “analyzed”.

Engagement: AnalyzedQuotedReadMentioned
Present in: Letters · Essays · Journals
Documented: 1839–1845

Totals count documented engagements, once at the earliest witness. How we count →

Reprints, Memoirs passages, and repeat notes within a single manuscript are shown but never counted twice. Evidence for this author is selective, not exhaustive. Methodology →

In Fuller’s words

“It has been thought by some that life is like the exploring of a passage that grows narrower and darker the farther we advance, without a possibility of ever turning back, and where we are stifled for want of breath at last.”

Table-Talk · Hazlitt’s Table-Talk. · 1845

When Fuller engaged with William Hazlitt

I. Childhood

II. Adolescence

III. Self-Directed

IV. Transcendentalist2records

V. New York4records

VI. Europe

✦. Memoirs (1852)

1810

1820

1832

1836

1844

1846

1850

This page brings together documented engagements currently identified within the Fuller Reading Worlds catalog.

Hazlitt in Fuller’s reading world

Documentary evidence

Selected passages from Fuller’s own writings, in chronological order.

1839—

Journal April 1839

p41

quoted · readManuscript page

“Hazlitt says 'Genius and originality is, for the most part, some strong quality in the mind, answering to, and bringing out some new and striking quality in nature.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Journal April 1839." Houghton Library, Harvard University; bMS Am 1086 (Box A); Box 5 (99).

Inferred Fuller quotes Hazlitt naming him by surname only; his definition of genius is from 'On Genius and Common Sense' in Table-Talk (1821–22). Fuller quotes Hazlitt's definition of genius from his essay 'On Genius and Common Sense' (Table-Talk, Vol. I, 1821; Vol. II, 1822). Title inferred from context — it is Hazlitt's most famous essay on genius.

The quote matches closely: 'Genius or originality is, for the most part, some strong quality in the mind, answering to and bringing out some new and striking quality in nature.' Fuller attributes it by surname only ('Hazlitt says').

1840—

Letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson

p175

quoted · read

“Accept a miracle instead of wit, / All these dull lines by Spenser's pencil writ!”

Fuller, Margaret. The Letters of Margaret Fuller. Edited by Robert N. Hudspeth. Vol. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984.

Hudspeth identified this explicitly: 'Fuller's modification of Hazlitt's quip in "On Wit and Humour" (in “Lectures on the English Comic Writers” [London, 1819], p. 23): "Wit may sometimes, indeed, be shown in compliments as well as satire; as in the common epigram "Accept a miracle, instead of wit: / See two dull lines with Stanhope's pencil writ."' Fuller substitutes 'Spenser's pencil' for 'Stanhope's pencil' and changes 'See' to 'All these.'

1845—

Hazlitt’s Table-Talk.

“Hazlitt’s Table-Talk.”

analyzed · quoted · read2 selected passages

“Hazlitt is the oracle of the men of talent. They like his richness of observation better than genius, and his sparkling suggestions better than truth.”

“It has been thought by some that life is like the exploring of a passage that grows narrower and darker the farther we advance, without a possibility of ever turning back, and where we are stifled for want of breath at last.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Hazlitt’s Table-Talk." New-York Daily Tribune, 30 April 1845.

1845—

Mr. Hudson’s Lecture on Hamlet.

“Mr. Hudson’s Lecture on Hamlet.”

mentioned

“With her and with Hazlitt Mr. Hudson may well compare.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Mr. Hudson’s Lecture on Hamlet." New-York Daily Tribune, 19 February 1845. · 19 February 1845

1845—

The Indicator; by Leigh Hunt . . .

“The Indicator; by Leigh Hunt . . .”

mentioned

“Hunt is a far better Indicator than Hazlitt. His mind is far fairer, freer from personal prejudice.”

Fuller, Margaret. "The Indicator; by Leigh Hunt . . ." New-York Daily Tribune, 11 July 1845. · 11 July 1845

1845—

Thomas Hood.

“Thomas Hood.”

mentioned

“How I used to look forward to Elia, and backward for Hazlitt, and all round for Edward Herbert”

Fuller, Margaret. "Thomas Hood." New-York Daily Tribune, 9 August 1845. · 9 August 1845