The Life of John Sterling is most often read as a work of Carlyle, rather than from an interest in the life of Sterling, and this was probably the case, even when the work was published in 1851. However, the biography portrays Sterling as someone who evidently regarded himself as equal to Carlyle, and perhaps this is one of the things that Carlyle liked about him. He was a great sounding board for Carlyle’s work, and a most entertaining and revealing passage is one in which Carlyle quotes Sterling’s analysis of his brilliant Sartor Resartus, in which he mocks Carlyle for making up words.
