Isaac D'Israeli's
Curiosities of Literature (1791-1834) was a popular and often republished collection of anecdote and history which earned him the respect and friendship of the literary figures of his day. His clever eldest son, though given hardly any formal education, was raised in a household of books and talk about books, a household in which reading and writing were the central activities.
The life of either scholarly or literary creation, however, was too confining and too quiet for the young Disraeli, whose ambitions--like his ego--were limitless. As he wrote in his diary, "I am only truly great in action. If ever I am placed in a truly eminent position I shall prove this. I could rule the House of Commons.... Poetry is the safety valve of my passions, but I wish to act what I write" Disraeli's early years and early writings were marked by a powerful urge to live out the heroics of Byronism. All he needed was a genre.
After two unhappy years as a law clerk, he decided against a career as a solicitor and began involving himself in literary, political, and financial ventures, each of which, he was certain, would lead to greatness.
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