Literary criticism has probably existed for as long as literature. Aristotle wrote the Poetics, a typology and description of literary forms with many specific criticism of contemporary of literary forms with many specific criticisms of contemporary works, in the 4thcentury BC. Poetics developed for the first time the concepts of mimesis and catharsis, which are still crucial in literary study. Plato's attacks on poetry as imitative, secondary, and false were formative as well. Later classical and medieval criticism often focused on religious texts, and the several long religious traditions of hermeneutics and textual exegesis have had a profound influence on the study of secular texts. This encyclopaedic work on literary, 'criticism is unique one encompassing within its fold various theories of literary criticism. Drawn from authoritative sources, penned by great men of literary wit, efforts are made to make this work representative.

By Frederick Gilbert