Reprint of the original, first published in 1839.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This volume does not criticize criticism, but criticizes critics. The critics examined are among the most vital and significant personalities of their time. To study Sainte-Beuve and the other leading French critics is to get very close to the intellectual center of the century. Readers my thus follow the main movement of this thought through this period, and build up the necessary background for understanding the ideas of the present day, whether they continue this earlier thought or react from it. The so-called anti-intellectualist movement can only be understood with reference to such a background; it is a reaction from the dogmatic naturalism that reached its height in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the end, the judgment of the keen-sighted few in the present will be ratified by the verdict of posterity.