As a poet, critic, essayist, editor, literary historian, biographer, and antiquarian, Thomas Warton ranks as one of the most accomplished and versatile writers of the eighteenth century. In his poetry...
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In 1800 Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges (by no means an uncritical admirer of his work) said of Thomas Warton: "Perhaps there was no one, by whose death the literature of England could have sustained a gre...
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In the following excerpt, Rinaker regards Observations on the Faerie Queene of Spenser as an important work of English literary criticism for having revived interest in Edmund Spenser.
The hand of ...
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In the following essay, Pittock traces influences on “Gothic” poems by Warton and others and critiques his History of English Poetry.
I
When [Samuel] Johnson's Dictionary appea...
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In the following essay, Rogers contends that Warton's History of English Poetry played a significant role in the codifying of historical eras in literature.
In any age, Basil Cottle would ha...
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In the following essay, Donatelli argues that Warton and Percy were leaders in a movement that inspired a popular fascination with the Middle Ages.
The enthusiasm for the culture of the Middle Ages...
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In the following essay, Rielly illustrates how Warton's writings and other scholarly interests reveal his Gothic sensibility.
Thomas Warton was an ardent antiquarian who contributed signific...
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In the following essay, Griffin explores the idea that Warton is a romantic poet by analyzing his poem The Pleasures of Melancholy.
The great merit of this writer appears to us to consist in the bo...
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In the following essay, Kolb and DeMaria analyze the relationship between Warton and Samuel Johnson, arguing that the two writers influenced and borrowed from each other.
Several commentators have ...
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In the following essay, Fairer describes Warton's importance as a literary figure.
On the evening of 20 March 1776 Dr. Johnson and Boswell, who were on a visit to Oxford together, went round...
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Thomas Warton
Critical Essay by Clarissa Rinaker
