CRITICISM

the art of expre ing an unbiased judgment, particularly in relation to lit. or the fine arts. Aristotle, by virtue of his Poetic and Rhetoric, may be regarded as the pioneer of literary c. amongst the ancients, though Plato and some earlier Gk. writers had produced works somewhat in the nature of c. Long in us, a later Gk. critic, wrote On the Sublime, one of the greatest critical books of the world. Quintilian, at a later date, took high rank as a literary critic. Ital. c. began with Dante’s De Vulgari Eloquio, and was continued by many Ital. writers in XVI. cent. In XVII. cent. France took up neocla ic c., and its influence reached England. In England literary c. began about the middle of the XVI. cent., and much critical work of a very high character was produced during the three cent’s following, amongst the leading writers being Dryden, Johnson, Hazlitt, Cole ridge, Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, to name but a few. Le ing’s critical writings, hold an important place in Ger. lit.; and amongst great Fr. critics may be named Malherbe, Boileau, Voltaire,