An Introduction to the Literary History of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries

London: Printed for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1798 First edition. Original boards, uncut and partially unopened, with title in manuscript on spine. Octavo. Front hinge cracked, but cords sound. Boards partially stained, old bookseller's label of George Mullen, Dublin, affixed to front cover. Fore-margin of B5 browned, with a small hole, not affecting text. A little foxing, but generally a very good, clean copy. A significant early study of the sources for medieval English literature, with chapters on the decline of learning in Rome, the effects of the Crusades and the influence of Arabic scholars, the contributions of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch, etc. The preface discusses the history of criticism and study in this area and remarks that English critics have been slower than their continental counterparts in documenting the late medieval revival of letters. This work is generally attributed to Charles Philpot (1759 or 60-1823), a poet whose works include Faith: A Vision, which won the Cambridge University Seatonian Prize for 1790. But it is sometimes attributed to Reverend John Logan (1748-88), author of sermons and a poetry collection. (Inventory #: 8059)