De Quincey was an adherent of the Ricardian system, although he is now better known for literary memoirs recounting his time as an opium eater.He lived for a time as a near destitute in 1802 in Greek St, Soho. He wrote Confessions of an English Opium Eater in 1821 at 4 York St (now 36 Tavistock Street), near Covent Garden, where a blue plaque commemorates the fact. The book is available from booksellers everywhere – many must have been the readers surprised by its passages on Ricardian political economy.
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