The Collected Works, Vol. 1: Autobiography and Literary Essays

Volume 1 features Mill’s Autobiography as well as related essays which together paint a balanced picture of his early life, including his rigorous “home schooling” at the hands of his father, James Mill, and the emotional crisis of his early adulthood. Such insights are a wonderful primer for later substantive volumes of Mill’s work and shed light on the character of nineteenth-century Britain’s foremost liberal intellectual. This volume was assembled under the direction of Professor John M. Robson of the University of Toronto and includes such rare material as Mill’s childhood writings, examples of his early articles published in such journals as The Westminster Review and the London Review, and a youthful critique of his father’s philosophical contributions.