This is a comprehensive 1997 account of the history of literary criticism in Britain and Europe between 1660 and 1800. Unlike previous histories, it is not just a chronological survey of critical writing, but a multidisciplinary investigation of how the understanding of literature and its various genres was transformed, at the start of the modern era, by developments in philosophy, psychology, the natural sciences, linguistics, and other disciplines, as well as in society at large. In the process, modern literary theory - at first often implicit in literary texts themselves - emancipated itself from classical poetics and rhetoric, and literary criticism emerged as a full-time professional activity catering for an expanding literate public. The volume is international both in coverage and in authorship. Extensive bibliographies provide guidance for further specialised study.

This comprehensive 1997 account of eighteenth-century literary criticism is now available in paperback.

About the Author
H. B. Nisbet is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Cambridge. Claude Rawson is Maynard Mack Professor of English at Yale University.

Reviews
'Erudite in makeup and cosmopolitan in sweep, the volume demonstrates the best continuity with the history it narrates.' Modern Philology



Book Information
ISBN 9780521300094
Author H. B. Nisbet
Format Hardback
Page Count 970
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 1500g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 58mm