Two short pieces from 1719 and 1720 reprinted together: an anonymous essay on genius that scolds writers who lose their own capacity for original thought through filching and plagiary, and Aaron Hill’s preface to his poem The Creation, which argues for the sublimity of Hebrew poetry. A 1949 introduction places both in Augustan criticism.
Useful reading for students of eighteenth-century taste and the early idea of genius. Download the free EPUB.