Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821) is an autobiographical account written by Thomas De Quincey, about his laudanum addiction and its effect on his life. The Confessions was "the first major work De Quincey published and the one that won him fame almost overnight".
Title page of the second edition
The cover of Thomas De Quincey's book Confessions of an Opium-Eater. This version was published by the Mershon Company in 1898.
Thomas De Quincey, c. 1846
36 Tavistock Street in London's Covent Garden, where De Quincey wrote Confessions – photographed in 2019
Thomas Penson De Quincey was an English writer, essayist, and literary critic, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quincey inaugurated the tradition of addiction literature in the West.
Thomas de Quincey by Sir John Watson-Gordon
Bust of Thomas De Quincey, by Sir John Steell
Fox Ghyll, near Rydal, Cumbria, De Quincey's home from 1820 to 1825
Thomas Penson de Quincey's home at 1 Forres Street, Edinburgh