SOURCE: "A Brief History of Aristotle's Rhetoric," in Aristotle's "Rhetoric": Five Centuries of Philological Research, The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1975, pp. 1-20.

In the following essay, Erickson traces 2,300 years of the history of Rhetoric, from its probable composition date, the myths regarding the loss and recovery of the text, early translations and publications, and into the twentieth century.

Tracing the history of Aristotle's Rhetoric logically begins with its "completion" or "publication" date. Although numerous scholars have attempted to date the Rhetoric there is little conclusive evidence to confirm a particular date. Edward M. Cope, a century ago, summarized research concerning the Rhetoric's completion or publication date: "As is usual in these cases the result is meagre and unsatisfactory: no certainty is attainable; we have to content ourselves with sufficiently vague and indefinite conjecture as to the time and mode of the composition of the work."¹ Cope's remarks are echoed...