Download a PDF of William Hazlitt’s “On Familiar Style”

My recent post about familiar style was quite popular, so I started looking around for somewhere I could direct people who wanted to read Hazlitt’s essay, On Familiar Style. Unfortunately, I could only find small excerpts online–until I remembered Project Gutenberg. Thanks to the marvelous folk over there, I was able to find a ready-to-go copy of Hazlitt’s book of essays, Table Talk: On Men and Manners. So here’s Hazlitt’s original in all its glory.

Funny thing: because this was written in the nineteenth century, the style is no longer all that familiar. It’s a worthwhile read, though, and helps show just how variable familiar style can be.

Because the essay is almost three thousand words, I’m not putting up the whole thing, but I am linking a pdf, here.

Happy reading!