Essays and Lectures

A rare gathering of the writer’s early public work, this collection brings listeners into the intellectual playground that shaped his later fame. It assembles the essay that first earned him an Oxford prize entry, a series of restored lectures delivered on both sides of the Atlantic, and the whimsical “Poems in Prose” that once floated around salon tables. Together they reveal a mind pre‑occupied with art, criticism, and the paradoxes of modern society, all filtered through a sparkling wit that never loses its humanist edge.

The essays trace the emergence of historical criticism as a rebellion against authority, while the lectures expose a spirited rivalry with the painter Whistler and offer rare commentary on aesthetic theory. The prose poems, though occasionally over‑adorned, showcase his talent for turning a simple observation into a witty vignette. Listeners will hear the foundations of a voice that would later become synonymous with sharp epigram and daring social commentary.