Thomas De Quicey (1785 - 1859)
Manchester, England

Thomas De Quincey was born into a wealthy family in the linen business. He received formal education in Bath and Winkfield. He ran away at the age of 17 from Grammar School with the support of his mother and uncle. In 1802 and 1803, Thomas lived in strict poverty and eventually decided to return to Manchester. At Worcester College in Oxford, De Quincey was exposed to opium when it relieved acute neuralgia pains, and he eventually became an addict to the drug. After leaving Oxford, in 1807 he was exposed to a circle of romantic writers on a trip to Bath. There, he was introduced to Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, and William Wordsworth and Thomas lived with them. Suffering a series of debilitating illnesses between 1812 and 1813, De Quincey started to take opium, becoming in 1813 a daily user, although he was able to control his habit until about 1817. He married Margaret Simpson, a farmer's daughter, by whom he had eight children. Early in the 1820 De Quincey moved to London, where he contributed the London Magazine and Blackwoods. His chronicle Confessions of an English Opium Eater, was a mix of stories about his life and descriptions both the ecstasies and the torments of the drug. It became an instant success and an important inspiration for other writers. His book also included quotes in Greek, Latin and Italian, and without considering its intellectually and physically corruptive effects, De Quincey took the drug in hope of increasing his rationality and the sense of harmony.

Criticism

Thomas De Quincey wrote voluminously, yet few books were published due to constant financial endeavors. Most of his talent lies in his periodicals. As a writer De Quincey's strong points were his sensitive, inward-turning imagination and his breadth of understanding. He also wrote studies about such German philosophers as Kant, Lessing, Richer. De Quincey's influence, in depicting nightmarish movements of mind, is later seen in the works of Poe and Baudelaire. Perhaps he prefigurated modern Outsider-writers such as Alexander Trocchi, for whom drugs served as confirmation of their alienation from mainstream society.

Works
1822 Confessions of an English Opium Eater
1823 On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth
1825 Walladmor
1827 Murder Considered as on of the Fine Arts
1832 Klosterheim, or the Masque
1834-40 Lake Reminiscenes
1844 The Logic of the Political Economy
1845 Suspiria de Profundis
1849 The English Mail Coach
1853 Autobiographical Sketches
1853 - 1860 Selections Grave and Gay, from the Writings, Published and Unpublished

Additional Information
An Interesting Presentation of De Quincy using Excerpts of his Works:
< http://www.people.virginia.edu/~bpn2f/opium.htm >

Sources:
Thomas De Quincey. Infoplease 2000 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0815208.html>

"Thomas De Quincey." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2000
< http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/03588.html >