by that style which, based upon a loving study of the Elizabethan and
seventeenth-century writers, was yet for the most part distinguished
by concision and ease. He took from his models their richness of
language without their prolixity, their felicity of expression without
their tendency to the elaboration of conceits; he unconsciously
employed their varied styles, to form an individual style of his own.

It is only possible in one small section of a small volume such as
this to indicate a portion of the wealth in the Elia series, so varied
are the themes which inspired the essayist: the delicious drollery of
the "Dissertation upon Roast Pig"; the immortal characterization of
"Mrs. Battle's Opinions upon Whist"; the pleasant personal touches in
a score of the essays; the cry of stifled affection in "Dream
Children"; the whimsicality of "Popular Fallacies"; each of these, and
as many again unspecified might be made the subject of separate
comment. Indeed, for variety in unity there are few books to compare
with our Elia. In the opening essay--the first of the series to appear
in the "London Magazine," the one to stand in the forefront of the
volume--Lamb blends reminiscences with fancy, as he continued to do
frequently throughout the series, in a way that is as suggestive to
the seeker after autobiographical data as it is engaging to the reader
in search of nothing further than the rich delight which comes of
passing time with a literary gem. Lamb pictures "The South Sea House"
as it was when he knew it thirty years earlier--he speaks of it as
forty years. There is a presentation of the old place, fallen more or
less completely upon days of desuetude, with some wonderfully-limned
portraits of the officials. Here is the deputy-cashier, Thomas Tame:

He had the air and stoop of a nobleman. You would have taken
him for one, had you met him in one of the passages leading