SOURCE: Misenheimer, James B., Jr. “Aesthetic Universality: The Nostalgia of Elia 150 Years after.” The Charles Lamb Bulletin, n.s., no. 53 (January 1986): 128-41.

In the following essay, originally delivered as a lecture in 1984, Misenheimer concentrates on Lamb's nostalgic vision by examining six of his representative Elian essays.

At this approaching December 27, marking the 150th anniversary of Charles Lamb's death, we celebrate and reflect upon his life of almost sixty years, a life replete with a unique combination of joie de vivre and the most intense kind of personal tragedy. As Dr. Johnson remarked of David Garrick, so may it be said also of Lamb, one of the most beloved writers in any language, that his death ‘eclipsed the gaiety of nations’.

I consider it a very special privilege to be with you, the members of The Charles Lamb Society, in this commemorative month, myself an Elian, though I reside...