This volume provides the first comprehensive treatment of the issues that helped shape the way writers thought about literature from the late Middle Ages to the late seventeenth century. These issues touched almost every facet of Western intellectual endeavor, as well as the historical, cultural, social, scientific, and technological contexts in which that activity evolved. The sixty-one chapters by a team of internationally respected scholars are supported by specialized bibliographies for guidance in further studies of the individual topics. "A very distinguished crew of experts offers a survey of both literary theory and critical practice <> and the non-British national developments are especially noteworthy here. Humanism's impact is clearly explained. Every serious library needs this Cambridge series and this may be the most important volume in the series. Again: read surveys like this to put your specialities in perspective." Bibliotheque D'Humanisme "[This volume]...is informative, intelligent, and, in places, exciting to read. It will serve generations of scholars and students of the Renaissance exceedingly well." Sixteenth Century Journal This 1999 volume is the standard work of reference on early modern literary criticism in Europe. Used Book in Good Condition