Charles Lamb (1775-1834), essayist, poet, humorist, critic and letter-writer, has an enduring reputation for his early "Tales from Shakespeare" (1807), written in collaboration with his sister Mary, and his " Essays of Elia," first published in the "London Magazine." This thematic selection of Lamb's writings - essays, dramatic criticism, verse and letters - not only demonstrates his literary achievements; it forms a self-portrait of the writer:...