Although he was an acute literary critic, a voluminous contributor to Blackwood's and other journals, and a perceptive writer on history, biography and economics, Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) is best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.

First published in installments in the London Magazine in 1821, the work recounts De Quincey"s early years as a precocious student of Greek, his flight from grammar school and subsequent adventures among the out casts and prostitutes of London,studies at Oxford University and his introduction to opium in 1804 (he hoped that taking the drug would relieve a severe headache). It was the beginning of a long-term addiction toopium, whose effects on his mind are revealed in remarkably vivid descriptions of the dreams and visions he experienced while under its influence.

Part I

 To the Reader

 Preliminary Confessions

Part II

 The Pleasures of Opium

 Introduction to the Pains of Opium

 The Pains of Opium