A history of criticism and literary taste in Europe from the earliest texts to the present day. Volume 2 (of 3), From the Renaissance to the decline of eighteenth century orthodoxy

by George Saintsbury

Transcriber’s Note:

Footnotes have been collected at the end of each chapter, and are linked for ease of reference. Internal references in the text and index are also linked.

The marginal notes follow the topics enumerated in the table of contents, and appeared several lines after the paragraph opening. Here, they usually appear mid-paragraph. topic phrase On occasion, where the opening sentence is inordinately lengthy or the paragraph short, the note will appear adjacent to the opening line.

There are a number of issues in the Index regarding misnumbered or missing references. These explanatory notes are linked from the name of the entry.

Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s [note] at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation.

Any corrections are indicated using an underline highlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce the original text in a small popup.

Any corrections are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate the reader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in the note at the end of the text.

---

A HISTORY OF CRITICISM
AND LITERARY TASTE

Ignorantium temeraria plerumque sunt judicia.