CHAPTER II.
THE ITALIAN DECADENCE AND THE SPANIARDS.
Decadence of Italian Criticism 323
Paolo Beni 324
Possevino: his Bibliotheca Selecta 325
Tassoni: his Pensieri Diversi 326
Aromatari 328
His Degli Autori del Ben Parlare 329
Boccalini and Minors 329
Influence of the Ragguagli 330
The set of Seicentist taste 331
Spanish criticism: highly ranked by Dryden? 331
The Origins—Villena 333
Santillana 333
Encina 335
Valdés 335
The beginning of regular Criticism. Humanist Rhetoricians 336
Poetics: Rengifo 337
Pinciano 338
La Cueva 341
Carvallo 341
Gonzales de Salas 341
The Cigarrales of Tirso de Molina 343
Lope’s Arte Nuevo, &c. 344
His assailants and defenders 346
The fight over the Spanish drama 347
Cervantes and Calderon 347
Gongorism, Culteranism, &c. 349
Quevedo 349
Gracián 349
The limitations of Spanish criticism 350
CHAPTER III.
GERMAN AND DUTCH CRITICISM.
The hindmost of all 352
Origins 353
Sturm 353
Fabricius 354
Version A. 354
Version B. 354
Jac. Pontanus 355
Heinsius: the De Tragœdiæ Constitutione 356
Voss 357
His Rhetoric 358
His Poetics 359
Opitz 360
The Buch der Deutschen Poeterei 361
CHAPTER IV.
DRYDEN AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES.
Dead water in English Criticism 365
Milton 365
Cowley 366
The Prefatory matter of Gondibert 367
The “Heroic Poem” 368
Davenant’s Examen 369
Hobbes’s Answer 370
Dryden 371
His advantages 372
The early Prefaces 373
The Essay of Dramatic Poesy 376
Its setting and overture 376
Crites for the Ancients 377
Eugenius for the “last age” 378
Lisideius for the French 378
Dryden for England and Liberty 379
Coda on rhymed plays, and conclusion 380
Conspicuous merits of the piece 381
The Middle Prefaces 382
The Essay on Satire and the Dedication of the Æneis 385
The Parallel of Poetry and Painting 386
The Preface to the Fables 386
Dryden’s general critical position 386
His special critical method 387
Dryden and Boileau 389
Rymer 391
The Preface to Rapin 392
The Tragedies of the Last Age 394
The Short View of Tragedy 395
The Rule of Tom the Second 397
Sprat 398
Edward Phillips 398
His Theatrum Poetarum 399
Winstanley’s Lives 400
Langbaine’s Dramatic Poets 400
Temple 401
Bentley 401
Collier’s Short View 402
Sir T. P. Blount 404
Periodicals: The Athenian Mercury, &c. 406
INTERCHAPTER V. 407
BOOK VI.
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ORTHODOXY.
CHAPTER I.
FROM ADDISON TO JOHNSON.
Criticism at Dryden’s death 426
Bysshe’s Art of English Poetry 426
Gildon 429
Welsted 430
Dennis 431
On Rymer 432
On Shakespeare 434
On “Machines” 435
His general theory of Poetry 435
Addison 437
The Account of the Best known English Poets 438
The Spectator criticisms 440
On True and False Wit 441
On Tragedy 441
On Milton 443
The “Pleasures of the Imagination” 444
His general critical value 447
Steele 448
Atterbury 449
Swift 450
The Battle of the Books 450
The Tale of a Tub 451
Minor works 451
Pope 452
The Letters 453
The Shakespeare Preface 454
Spence’s Anecdotes 454
The Essay on Criticism 455
The Epistle to Augustus 457
Remarks on Pope as a critic 457
And the critical attitude of his group 460
Philosophical and Professional Critics 461
Trapp 462
Blair 462
The Lectures on Rhetoric 463
The Dissertation on Ossian 464
Kames 465
The Elements of Criticism 466
Campbell 470
The Philosophy of Rhetoric 470
Harris 473
The Philological Enquiries 474
“Estimate” Brown: his History of Poetry 476
Johnson: his preparation for criticism 477
The Rambler on Milton 480
On Spenser 482
On History and Letter-writing 483
On Tragi-comedy 483
“Dick Minim” 484
Rasselas 484
The Shakespeare Preface 485
The Lives of the Poets 486
Their general merits 487
The Cowley 489
The Milton 489
The Dryden and Pope 490
The Collins and Gray 491
The critical greatness of the Lives and of Johnson 493
Minor Criticism: Periodical and other 496
Goldsmith 498
Vicesimus Knox 499
Scott of Amwell 500
CHAPTER II.
THE CONTEMPORARIES OF VOLTAIRE.
Close connection of French seventeenth and eighteenth century Criticism: Fontenelle 501
Exceptional character of his criticism 502
His attitude to the “Ancient and Modern” Quarrel 503
The Dialogues des Morts 503
Other critical work 504
La Motte 507
His “Unity of Interest” 508
Rollin 509
Brumoy 509
Rémond de Saint-Mard 510
L. Racine 511
Du Bos 511
Stimulating but desultory character of his Réflexions 512
Montesquieu 514
Voltaire: disappointment of his criticism 515
Examples of it 515
Causes of his failure 518
Others: Buffon 519
“Style and the man” 520
Vauvenargues 521
Batteux 522
His adjustment of Rules and Taste 523
His incompleteness 524
Marmontel 525
Oddities and qualities of his criticism 526
Others 529
Thomas, Suard, &c. 529
La Harpe 530
His Cours de Littérature 530
His critical position as ultimus suorum 531
The Academic Essay 533
Rivarol 534
CHAPTER III.
CLASSICISM IN THE OTHER NATIONS.
Preliminary remarks 537
Temporary revival of Italian Criticism 538
Gravina 538
Muratori: his Della Perfetta Poesia 541
Crescimbeni 542
Quadrio 542
The emergence of literary history 545
Further decadence of Italian criticism 545
Metastasio 546
Neo-classicism triumphs in Spain 546
The absurdities of Artiga 547
Luzán 548
The rest uninteresting 549
Feyjóo, Isla, and others 549
Rise at last of German Criticism 550
Its school time 551
Classicism at bay almost from the first—Gottsched 552
The Versuch einer Critischen Dichtkunst 553
Its chief idea 553
Specimen details 555
Gellert: he transacts 557
INTERCHAPTER VI.
§ I. THE NEMESIS OF CORRECTNESS 559
§ II. THE BALANCE-SHEET OF NEO-CLASSIC CRITICISM 566
INDEX 579