JACKSON, J.R. de J. — Method and Imagination in Coleridge's Criticism

Harvard University Press, 1969. Hardcover. Places Coleridge's literary criticism against the backdrop of his philosophical thinking. He examines Coleridge's theory about the way in which critics should criticise and his theory about the nature of poetry, as well as his efforts to apply them in his own practical criticism. Coleridge was a philosopher first and a critic second: our interest in his criticism and indifference to his philosophy should not prevent us from recognising where his priorities lay. Particular attention is paid to the structure of Biographia Literaria, Coleridge's distinction between Imagination and Fancy, his definitions of the poetic characters of Shakespeare and Wordsworth, his analysis of the mental state of audiences in theatres, and his interpretations of Paradise Lost, Hamlet and Aeschylus' Prometheus. The emphasis throughout is on how Coleridge thought rather than what he thought and the process rather than the conclusions of his criticism. Touch of sunning to spine of price-clipped dj, o/wise very good condition (near fine). 205pp.