By Himself

This volume brings together, in definitive form, all of John Clare's important autobiographical writings. His Autobiographical Fragments, Journal , and Sketches are set alongside his famous Journey out of Essex . Maps of Clare's countryside, his will, and extracts from his asylum letters are also included, presenting the author in all his guises—ploughboy, gardener, and militiaman; lover and husband; acquaintance of Hazlitt, Lamb, and Coleridge; and finally, inmate in an asylum.