How does Biographia Literaria combine autobiography, philosophy, and literary criticism?

Biographia Literaria is a seminal work of Romantic literary criticism that synthesizes autobiography, philosophy, and critical analysis into a coherent whole.12

The work moves between these modes to explore the evolution of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s thought. It begins with an autobiographical account of his early life and friendships with poets like William Wordsworth, transitioning into a philosophical critique of 18th-century associationist theories. Coleridge draws upon thinkers such as Immanuel Kant and Friedrich von Schelling to develop his own theories, most notably the distinction between fancy and imagination.21

The internal unity of the book is anchored by Coleridge’s veneration for the power of imagination—the unifying force that reconciles emotion and thought, as well as the universal and the particular. By applying this philosophical lens to his critique of Wordsworth’s poetry and the creative process, Coleridge elevates literary criticism from mere rule-prescribing to a conscious exploration of the fundamental creative principles governing both humanity and the universe.231