Classical scholar, art collector and connoisseur Richard Payne Knight (1751-1824) took a keen interest in aesthetics and was a key figure in the debate on the picturesque. Of independent means, he journeyed across Europe, often in the company of artists. His home, Downton Castle in Herefordshire, set the fashion for crenellations. He sat in Parliament from 1780 to 1806, but beauty interested him more than politics. Following important works on aesthetics by such writers as Edmund Burke and Uvedale Price, Knight published his most successful work in 1805, cementing his reputation as an authority on matters of taste. Here he moves away from the ideas of Price and Burke, instead exploring the role of associations in the expression of aesthetic judgement. Knight's Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet (1791) and Inquiry into the Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology (1818) are also reissued in this series.

Originally published in 1791, this work by classical scholar and connoisseur Richard Payne Knight (1751 1824) attempts to reconstruct the original pronunciation of ancient Greek. Emphasising the importance of knowing what the various ancient dialects sounded like in order to better appreciate surviving works of ancient literature, Knight engages in textual criticism of certain notable writings, including the poetry of Homer and Hesiod and the plays of Sophocles. Representing a learned contribution to classical philology, the essay also goes some way towards analysing the ways in which Greek sounds were distorted by their inclusion in other languages. Several plates at the end of the text reproduce a selection of ancient inscriptions on stone, coins and ceramics. Knight's Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste (1805) and Inquiry into the Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology (1818) are also reissued in this series."

This influential work of 1818 by dilettante and critic Richard Payne Knight (1751 1824) has stood the test of time. The study investigates the sexual symbolism of the art of different religions, providing a key to the mythology of the ancients and fostering a clear understanding of the canons and principles of art. An eminent art historian, collector and textual critic, Knight led the way in convincing British taste that Roman art was inferior to Greek, arguing that Greek art was the more authentic and original. Here, he calls for more correct versions of Homer, Plato and other Hellenic writers, to obtain accurate perceptions of Grecian ideas. Demonstrating his in-depth knowledge of classical architecture and literature, and drawing upon his considerable resources as a collector, Knight analyses the genetic character of symbols, and the patterns of their occurrence in different cultures.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1865 Edition. And An Essay On The Worship Of The Generative Powers During The Middle Ages Of Western Europe.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1786 Edition.