First published in 1947, Essays from Eighteenth-Century Periodicals is a collection of essays from The Tatler, The Spectator, The Guardian, The Rambler, The Idler, and from many less well-known periodicals. The essays included represent the prose of the eighteenth century from 1709–1790.
Though the book has been arranged primarily with a view to its use by students, the general reader cannot fail to be delighted with the genial, humane papers of Steele, and of Johnson, with the fierce humanity in the work of Fielding and with the sheer literary skill of Addison and of Goldsmith. There is an introduction, and notes are added on points of literary interest.