Elements of CriticismGraphic Arts Books, 2021 M11 16 - 646 pages Elements of Criticism (1762) is a philosophical work by Henry Home, Lord Kames. Published at the height of his career as a leading legal and cultural figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, Elements of Criticism has been credited as a crucial academic work in the development of modern English literary studies. “The science of criticism tends to improve the heart not less than the understanding...A just taste in the fine arts, by sweetening and harmonizing the temper, is a strong antidote to the turbulence of passion and violence of pursuit. Elegance of taste procures to a man so much enjoyment at home, or easily within reach, that in order to be occupied, he is, in youth, under no temptation to precipitate into hunting, gaming, drinking; nor, in middle age, to deliver himself over to ambition; nor, in old age, to avarice.” Although he is largely unheard of today, Henry Home was an integral figure in the elevation of the art of literary criticism as a subject in universities around Britain and the world. His central thesis is that criticism itself stems from the senses and directly relates to humanity’s capacity for reason. Through art, Home believed, humanity could live both morally and in harmony with the natural world, thereby creating a civilization rooted in virtue and creativity. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henry Home, Lord Kames’ Elements of Criticism is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers. |
From inside the book
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... sensible of the impression made upon my eye; nor of the impression made upon my ear, when I listen to a song1. This difference in the manner of perception, distinguishes remarkably hearing and seeing from the other senses; and ...
... sensible of its extent and difficulty, to undertake it professedly, or to avow it as the chief purpose of the present work. To censure works, not men, is the just prerogative of criticism; and accordingly all personal censure is here ...
... sensible of a continued train of objects passing in his mind. It requires no activity on his part to carry on the train: nor has he power to vary it by calling up an object at will1. At the same time we learn from daily experience, that ...
... sensible of easiness or difficulty precisely as when they are set before our eyes. Our sense of order is conspicuous with respect to natural operations; for it always coincides with the order of nature. Thinking upon a body in motion ...
... sensible pleasure, like mounting upward, which is not felt in the other. The analytic method is more agreeable to the imagination. The other method will be preferred by those only who with rigidity adhere to order, and give no ...
Contents
BEAUTY | |
GRANDEUR AND SUBLIMITY | |
MOTION AND FORCE | |
NOVELTY AND THE UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE OF OBJECTS | |
RISIBLE OBJECTS | |
CUSTOM AND HABIT | |
EXTERNAL SIGNS OF EMOTIONS AND PASSIONS | |
SENTIMENTS | |
LANGUAGE OF PASSION | |
BEAUTY OF LANGUAGE | |
VOLUME III | |
COMPARISONS | |
FIGURES | |
RESEMBLANCE AND CONTRAST | |
OF UNIFORMITY AND VARIETY | |
VOLUME II | |
CONGRUITY AND PROPRIETY | |
OF DIGNITY AND MEANNESS | |
RIDICULE | |
XIII | |
NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION | |
EPIC AND DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS | |
THE THREE UNITIES | |
GARDENING AND ARCHITECTURE | |
STANDARD OF TASTE | |