Portraits of the Seventeenth Century: Historic and Literary (2-Volume Set)

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve is generally considered to be the father of modern criticism. In more than 40 years as a newspaper critic, he developed a style of literary article known as the "portrait," the ancestor of the literary profile of our own time. Saint-Beuve's perceptive interpretations, a successful combination of literary history and textual criticism, have become classics of critical literature. In these two volumes, the reader can follow his own tastes in exploring a world of wit and elegance, of "amiable and clever women" and brilliant men. These are portraits not only of the subjects themselves and their world, but also of the author, exemplifying his style and reflecting in a unique way the culture of nineteenth-century France. The "Portraits" themselves have been enhanced by many new halftone plates, and new Collation Tables give the source and date of each essay.