Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was one of the most influential authors of the nineteenth century. Eagerly studied at the highest level of intellectual society, his satirical essays and perceptive historical biographies caused him to be regarded for much of the Victorian period as a literary genius and eminent social philosopher. After graduating from Edinburgh University in 1814, he published his first scholarly work on German literature in 1824, before finding literary success with his ground-breaking history of the French Revolution in 1837. After falling from favour during the first part of the twentieth century, his work has more recently become the subject of scholarly re-examination. His introduction of German literature and philosophy into the British intellectual milieu profoundly influenced later philosophical ideas. These volumes are reproduced from the 1896 Centenary Edition of his collected works. Volume 12 contains the first volume of The Life of Frederick the Great.