SOURCE: "The Writer," in William Cobbett: The Poor Man's Friend, Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, 1982, pp. 427-56.

Spater's William Cobbett: The Poor Man's Friend (1982) is considered the definitive biography of Cobbett. In the following excerpt, he offers a broad, thematic survey of Cobbett's writings.

Nearly all of Cobbett's writing that was published in book form was for the purpose of instruction, and nearly all the instruction related to four subjects: language, gardening or farming, personal behavior, and government affairs, with a goodly amount of overlap among categories. The language books of this period include a grammar for use by those who wished to learn French, a French—English dictionary, and a spelling book. "For once in my life," wrote Cobbett announcing publication of the grammar, "I have written a book without a word of politics in it … while all will agree, that the book cannot be the worse for...