Originally published between 1934 and 1952 these volumes are classics in the field of literary criticism. Their author was a respected scholar whose ability to survey a vast field of literature and criticism and explain and un-tangle it to students was well-known. The volumes:

Analyze styles of literary criticism prevalent in ancient Greece and after the rise of the Roman Empire

Illustrates the first phases of the growth of a tradition of criticism

Review the critical achievement at the Renaissance

Discuss the theories and judgments of various critics and their bearing on literary appreciation between the Renaissance and the dawn of 19th Century Romanticism.