Burke - A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful

London and New York

This edition first published 1958
by Routledge and Kegan Paul

First published in Routledge Classics 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledges collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

1958, 2008, James T. Boulton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0-203-86869-2 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN13: 978-0-203-86869-0 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN13: 978-1-135-24620-4 ePub ISBN

ISBN10: 0415453267

ISBN13: 9780415453264

Burkes eminence as a political thinker has been long acknowledged: his claims as an aesthetician have rarely been seriously, never thoroughly considered. On the other hand, while his theory is no longer acceptable, no reputable historian of the aesthetics, the literary criticism, or the taste of the eighteenth century fails to give a mentionfrequently a detailed analysisto Burkes Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful. And yet no critical edition of this work has been published in the two hundred years since its first appearance. Without exaggerating the wisdom of the Enquiry, one must rank it among the most important documents of its century. Besides painters, architects, and a host of minor writers, such major figures as Johnson, Blake (despite his overt scorn for Burkes ideas), Wordsworth, Hardy, Diderot, Lessing, and Kant felt its influence. It is hoped, therefore, that this bicentenary edition will enable a just historical estimate to be made of a work in which, as Johnson remarked of him later, Burkes stream of mind is perpetual.

The principal tasks facing an editor were to establish a definitive text, to show and account for Burkes extensive textual changes in the second edition, and to supply the necessary annotation. In addition, I have related the whole work to the historical development of ideas and shown some directions in which, in England and Europe, it appears to have been influential.

To whatever degree of adequacy and completeness has been achieved many have contributed; what faults remain are my sole responsibility. To Professor V. de S. Pinto and my colleagues in the Department of English in the University of Nottingham my thanks are due for their unfailing assistance; in particular I am indebted to Mr. G. R. Hibbard who read the manuscript, made valuable suggestions, and saved me from many erros. Mr. W. R. Chalmers and Dr. D. Brett-Evans kindly solved various problems connected with classical and German literature respectively; Mr. D. Jefferson, of the University of Leeds, generously put at my disposal his own work on the Enquiry; Professor T. W. Copeland, of the University of Chicago, answered many enquiries about the Burke manuscripts, as did Professor W. B. Todd, of Harvard University, about the printed texts; and to Professor I. Ehrenpreis, of Indiana University, who advised and assisted unstintingly, I am indebted in a score of ways. I am also grateful to Mr. H. Erskine-Hill for help in correcting the proofs. Finally, without the willing co-operation of the Librarians and staffs of the Bodleian Library and the Nottingham University Library, the task would have been impossible.

J.T.B.

University of Nottingham