This collection investigates the intellectual development and personal life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge through his private correspondence during the formative years of 1785 to 1800. Editor Earl Leslie Griggs provides a rigorous scholarly framework, organizing these primary source documents to illuminate the poet's early philosophical inquiries, social circles, and the emergence of his creative output. By presenting these letters in their original context, the volume serves as a foundational resource for understanding the Romantic movement's origins.

Scholars and literary historians regard this edition as the definitive reference for Coleridge's early life and correspondence. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the meticulous nature of the editorial apparatus.