On 19 May 1840, Thomas Carlyle wrote Lecture V of On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History - 'The Hero as Man of Letters'. 'The thing we called "bits of paper with traces of black ink"', declares Carlyle, 'is the purest embodiment a Thought of man can have.' From 'the supreme importance of the Man of Letters in modern Society, to how the Press is to such a degree superseding the Pulpit, the Senate, the Senatus Academicus and much else', the ardent Victorian paints Men of Letters as the singular Prophets of their age. This book is part of the Luminary Collection.