Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches — Volume 3

Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches, Volume 3 collects shorter works by Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), the English historian, essayist, and politician whose serious career produced major work in history, literary criticism, poetry, and political oratory. The Miscellaneous Writings gathers material that did not fit into Macaulay’s major books including his History of England from the Accession of James II and his collected Essays.

Macaulay was one of the most influential English writers of the mid-nineteenth century. His Essays from the Edinburgh Review across the 1820s through the 1840s established him as the leading Whig literary critic of his generation. His Lays of Ancient Rome of 1842 brought classical Roman material into popular English narrative verse. His History of England, published in volumes from 1848 onward, was the most commercially successful English historical work of the nineteenth century. His parliamentary speeches across his political career addressed the major Whig political subjects of the period.

Volume 3 of the Miscellaneous Writings typically includes notable parliamentary speeches and various essays not included in the main Essays collection.