Thomas Penson De Quincey (/də ˈkwɪnsi/;[1] 15 August 1785 – 8 December 1859) was an English essayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821).[2][3] Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quincey inaugurated the tradition of addiction literature in the West.[4]
Thomas Quincey was born at 86 Cross Street, Manchester, Lancashire.[5] His father, a successful merchant with an interest in literature, died when De Quincey was quite young. Soon after his birth the family went to The Farm and then later to Greenheys, a larger country house in Chorlton-on-Medlock near Manchester. In 1796, three years after the death of his father, Thomas Quincey, his mother – the erstwhile Elizabeth Penson – took the name “De Quincey.”[6] In the same year, De Quincey’s mother moved to Bath, Somerset, and enrolled him at King Edward’s School.
The folowing are great works by Thomas De Quincey
