Produced by David Starner, Sankar Viswanathan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. Series Four _Men, Manners and Critics_ No. 2 Anonymous, "Of Genius", in _The Occasional Paper_, Volume III, Number 10 (1719) and Aaron Hill, Preface to _The Creation_ (1720) With an Introduction by Gretchen Graf Pahl The Augustan Reprint Society March, 1949 _Price: One Dollar_ _GENERAL EDITORS_ RICHARD C. BOYS, _University of Michigan_ EDWARD NILES HOOKER, _University of California, Los Angeles_ H.T. SWEDENBERG, JR., _University of California, Los Angeles_ _ASSISTANT EDITOR_ W. EARL BRITTON, _University of Michigan_ _ADVISORY EDITORS_ EMMETT L. AVERY, _State College of Washington_ BENJAMIN BOYCE, _University of Nebraska_ LOUIS I. BREDVOLD, _University of Michigan_ CLEANTH BROOKS, _Yale University_ JAMES L. CLIFFORD, _Columbia University_ ARTHUR FRIEDMAN, _University of Chicago_ SAMUEL H. MONK, _University of Minnesota_ ERNEST MOSSNER, _University of Texas_ JAMES SUTHERLAND, _Queen Mary College, London_ Lithoprinted from copy supplied by author by Edwards Brothers, Inc. Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. [Transcriber's Note: Some of the latin footnotes and the errata were difficult or impossible to read. These are annotated.] INTRODUCTION The anonymous essay "Of Genius," which appeared in the _Occasional Paper_ of 1719, still considers "genius" largely a matter of aptitude or talent, and applies the term to the "mechanick" as well as the fine arts. The work is, in fact, essentially a pamphlet on education. The author's main concern is training, and study, and conscious endeavor. Naturally enough, his highest praise--even where poetry is in question--is reserved for those solid Augustan virtues of "judgment" and "good sense."