De Quincey (1785-1859) was a pioneer, psychologically and medically,, in his analysis of his own progress as a consumer of enormous quantities of opium. At the time, opium was a legal painkiller with effects that were hardly recognized. But the Confessions is less about the dangers of addiction and more about the revelations of the subconsious mind in dreams and visions. De Quincey` s processions of doom` were shaped by such divers influences as his early poverty in the area of London` s Oxford street, his friendship with a young prostitute, the loss of a child, the chance visit of a Malay sailor and even the prints of Piranesi.
De Quincey` s Confessions was a sensation when first published in 1821, and it has remained in print ever since. Remarkable for its pre-Freudian insights into the obscurer workings of the human mind, the Confessions has had a lasting impact on the writing of autobiography