His first major work, Sartor Resartus (lit.
 'The Tailor Re-tailored') was begun as a satirical article on "the philosophy of clothes" and surprised him by growing into a full-length book.
 He wrote it in 1831 at the house on his wife Jane's estate, Craigenputtock, and it was intended to be a new kind of book: simultaneously factual and fictional, serious and satirical, speculative and historical.
Ironically, it commented on its own formal structure while forcing the reader to confront the problem of where "truth" is to be found.
Sartor Resartus was first published in instalments in Fraser's Magazine from 1833 to 1834.
The text presents itself as an unnamed editor's attempt to introduce the British public to Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, a German philosopher of clothes, who is, in fact, a fictional creation of Carlyle's.
The Editor is struck with admiration, but for the most part is confounded by Teufelsdröckh's outlandish philosophy, of which the Editor translates choice selections.
To try to make sense of Teufelsdröckh's philosophy, the Editor tries to piece together a biography, but with limited success.
Underneath the German philosopher's seemingly ridiculous statements, there are mordant attacks on Utilitarianism and the commercialization of British society.
The fragmentary biography of Teufelsdröckh that the Editor recovers from a chaotic mass of documents reveals the philosopher's spiritual journey.
He develops a contempt for the corrupt condition of modern life.
He contemplates the "Everlasting No" of refusal, comes to the "Centre of Indifference", and eventually embraces the "Everlasting Yea".
This voyage from denial to disengagement to volition would later be described as part of the existentialist awakening.

Given the genre-breaking nature of Sartor Resartus, it is not surprising that it at first achieved little attention.
Its popularity developed over the next few years, and it was published as a single volume in Boston 1836, with a preface by Ralph Waldo Emerson, influencing the development of New England Transcendentalism.
The first British book edition followed in 1838.
His first major work, Sartor Resartus (lit.  'The Tailor Re-tailored') was begun as a satirical article on "the philosophy of clothes" and surprised him by growing into a full-length book.  He wrote it in 1831 at the house on his wife Jane's estate, Craigenputtock, and it was intended to be a new kind of book: simultaneously factual and fictional, serious and satirical, speculative and historical. Ironically, it commented on its own formal structure while forcing the reader to confront the problem of where "truth" is to be found. Sartor Resartus was first published in instalments in Fraser's Magazine from 1833 to 1834. The text presents itself as an unnamed editor's attempt to introduce the British public to Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, a German philosopher of clothes, who is, in fact, a fictional creation of Carlyle's. The Editor is struck with admiration, but for the most part is confounded by Teufelsdröckh's outlandish philosophy, of which the Editor translates choice selections. To try to make sense of Teufelsdröckh's philosophy, the Editor tries to piece together a biography, but with limited success. Underneath the German philosopher's seemingly ridiculous statements, there are mordant attacks on Utilitarianism and the commercialization of British society. The fragmentary biography of Teufelsdröckh that the Editor recovers from a chaotic mass of documents reveals the philosopher's spiritual journey. He develops a contempt for the corrupt condition of modern life. He contemplates the "Everlasting No" of refusal, comes to the "Centre of Indifference", and eventually embraces the "Everlasting Yea". This voyage from denial to disengagement to volition would later be described as part of the existentialist awakening.
Given the genre-breaking nature of Sartor Resartus, it is not surprising that it at first achieved little attention. Its popularity developed over the next few years, and it was published as a single volume in Boston 1836, with a preface by Ralph Waldo Emerson, influencing the development of New England Transcendentalism. The first British book edition followed in 1838.
Thomas Carlyle