William Carew Hazlitt

William Carew Hazlitt (22 August 1834 – 8 September 1913), usually published as W. Carew Hazlitt, was an English lawyer, bibliographer, editor, and writer. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1861, though he became far better known for his literary and historical work than for legal practice.

He came from a notably literary family: he was the grandson of the essayist and critic William Hazlitt, and he wrote Memoirs of William Hazlitt as part of that family legacy. Across a long career he produced and edited a remarkable range of books, including bibliographies, studies of Shakespeare, collections of early English texts, and works such as Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine.

Hazlitt had the instincts of both a scholar and a collector. His writing often brings together patient research with an evident pleasure in forgotten books, popular literature, and everyday history, which helps explain why his work still appeals to readers interested in the texture of the past.