Two separate essays he wrote on this
subject,[A] of which he seemed never to tire.
[Footnote A: Yet, marvellous as it may seem, he wrote the second without
being distinctly conscious of having written a previous one. It was no
uncommon thing for him to forget his own writings. In one case it is
known that for a long time he persisted in disowning his production. His
American editor--a fact which is little known--selected, from among the
mass of periodical writings in the various magazines for which De
Quincey wrote, those which, having no other clue to guide him than,
their peculiar style, he judged to have proceeded from De Quincey's pen.
In one instance,--as to the "Traditions of the Rabbins,"--after
considerable examination, he still hesitated, and finally wrote to De
Quincey, to set himself right. The latter disowned the essay: he had
forgotten it. Mr. F., however, after another examination, concluded,
that, notwithstanding De Quincey's denial of the fact, he _must_ have
written it; accordingly, at his own risk, he published it.
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