Books published by publisher Heritage Press

In this remarkable autobiography, Thomas De Quincey hauntingly describes the surreal visions and hallucinatory nocturnal wanderings he took through London and the nightmares, despair, and paranoia to which he became prey under the influence of the then-legal painkiller laudanum. Forging a link between artistic self-expression and addiction, Confessions seamlessly weaves the effects of drugs and the nature of dreams, memory, and imagination. First published in 1821, it paved the way for later generations of literary drug users, from Baudelaire to Burroughs, and anticipated psychoanalysis with its insights into the subconscious.

Leather inlay medallion on cover with intertwined "JB" and "WB." Also leather title inlay on spine. Covers and page edges are foxed. No dust jacket or box, if originally included. 12 magnificent watercolor illustrations by Blake. The only mark in the book is a lightly penciled price inside front cover. This is a beautiful special edition designed by Stefan Salter in 14 point "Caslon Old Face" type and printed at the American Book-Stratford Press in New York.