Preliminary remarks 537 Temporary revival of Italian Criticism 538 Gravina 538 Muratori: his _Della Perfetta Poesia_ 541 Crescimbeni 542 Quadrio 542 The emergence of literary history 545 Further decadence of Italian criticism 545 Metastasio 546 Neo-classicism triumphs in Spain 546 The absurdities of Artiga 547 Luzán 548 The rest uninteresting 549 Feyjóo, Isla, and others 549 Rise at last of German Criticism 550 Its school time 551 Classicism at bay almost from the first—Gottsched 552 The _Versuch einer Critischen Dichtkunst_ 553 Its chief idea 553 Specimen details 555 Gellert: he transacts 557 INTERCHAPTER VI. § I. THE NEMESIS OF CORRECTNESS 559 § II. THE BALANCE-SHEET OF NEO-CLASSIC CRITICISM 566 --- INDEX 579 BOOK IV RENAISSANCE CRITICISM ---------- “_Le materie da scienza, o da arte, o da istoria comprese, possano esser convenevoli soggetti a poesia, e a poemi, pure che poeticamente sieno trattate._”—PATRIZZI. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY—ERASMUS. THE CRITICAL STARTING-POINT OF THE RENAISSANCE—INFLUENCES AT WORK: GENERAL—PARTICULAR—WEAKNESS OF VERNACULARS—RECOVERY OF ANCIENT CRITICISM—NECESSITY OF DEFENCE AGAINST PURITANISM—THE LINE OF CRITICISM RESULTANT—NOT NECESSARILY ANTI-MEDIÆVAL, BUT CLASSICAL AND ANTI-PURITAN—ERASMUS—THE ‘CICERONIANUS'—THE ‘COLLOQUIES’—THE ‘LETTERS’—DISTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK.