A new memorial to William Hazlitt, inscribed by the lettercarving studio of Cardozo Kindersley Workshop, was unveiled in St Anne\'s Churchyard in Soho, London, by former Labour leader Michael Foot in April.

A team of three carvers from the Workshop hand cut with chisel and hammer the inscription on the memorial to the essayist who lived from 1778 to 1830 and who was described by his biographer A C Grayling as "one of England\'s greatest writers and radicals".

The commission involved 41 lines of Italic text designed by the Workshop and carved into a single piece of Lakeland slate. The slate sits on a base of Portland stone inscribed with the name \'Hazlitt\' in bold capital letters.

The new memorial replaces an original erected in 1830 that no longer survives. All that had lately marked the grave was a small plaque lying flat on the ground.

The eulogy on the new memorial was taken from records of the original. It was composed by an unknown admirer (some believe it to have been by Hazlitt\'s divorced wife, Sarah Stoddart).

Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley, who heads the Workshop that carved the letters, says: "To cut an inscription with such strength and depth makes life worthwhile. I can cut phrases like \'moral courage\' with the blow of conviction."