A biography of the 18th century British textual editor Lewis Theobold that asserts that the basic principles of critical editing in English were derived from Theobold's adaptation of the method employed by Bentley in the classics.

A biography of the 18th century British textual editor Lewis Theobold that asserts that the basic principles of critical editing in English were derived from Theobold's adaptation of the method employed by Bentley in the classics.

Excerpt from Lewis Theobald, His Contribution to English Scholarship: With Some Unpublished Letters The purpose of this dissertation is two-fold: to give a biography of Theobald, and to establish a thesis. With the exception of one or two written before 1728, none of the eighteenth century accounts of the scholar is in any way reliable, especially in matters touching The Dunciad. They all present the same picture of Theobald as is found in the variorum edition of Pope's satire, from which, indeed, the bulk of their information was derived. Early in the nineteenth century John Nichols, in the second volume of Illustrations of Literature, produced a much longer and more accurate sketch of Theobald than had yet appeared, together with the major part of his voluminous correspondence with Warburton. Though Nichols showed signs of appreciating the critic's learning and scholarship, he continued to accept as true many of the baseless charges advanced by Pope. The last century witnessed an amazing contrast in the estimates placed upon Theobald; Shakespearean scholars, almost unanimously, asserted that he was one of Shakespeare's greatest editors, while the biographers and critics of Pope, still continuing to echo the latter's slanders, proclaimed the unfortunate man a dunce. Finally, John Churton Collins, first in an essay called The Porson of Shakespearean Criticism - which might better have been called The Bentley of Shakespearean Criticism - and later in the Dictionary of National Biography clearly established his greatness as a scholar. Yet even Mr. Collins did not attempt to refute many of Pope's accusations. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Jonathan Brody Kramnick's book examines the formation of the English canon over the first two-thirds of the eighteenth century. Kramnick details how the idea of literary tradition emerged out of a prolonged engagement with the institutions of cultural modernity, from the public sphere and national identity to capitalism and the print market. Looking at a wide variety of eighteenth-century critical writing, he analyses the tensions that inhabited the categories of national literature and public culture at the moment of their emergence.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.