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Observations on the Faerie Queene of Spenser
Observations on the Faerie Queene of Spenser Author:Thomas Warton General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1754 Original Publisher: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley; and J. Fletcher Subjects: Literary Criticism / General Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Literary Criticism / Poetry Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and... more » white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: SECT. VIII. Of Spenfer's imitations of himfelf. Commentators of lefs tafte than learning, of lefs judgment than oftentation, have taken infinite pains to point out thofe pafTages which their refpeftive authqrs have imitated from others. This en'quiry is executed with a modeft referve, and extended no farther than to thofe pafiages which are diftinguifh'd with more indubitable evidences of tranfcription or imitation, might (it fhould feem) prove equally inftruftive and entertaining : as it would the better enable us to regulate our idea of the merit and character of an author, by afcertaining what degree of genuine invention is to be allow'd him, and by fhewing how far he has im- prov'd the materials of another by his own art and manner of application ; at the fame time that it muft ne- ceffarily gratify the inquifitivedifpofition of every reader. But where there are even the moft apparent traces of likenefs, how very feldom can it be affirm'd, with any truth, as a late very fagacious critic f has amply prov'd, that an imitation wasintended ? and how few of the commentators a. bove-mention'd are there, who do not (to ufe his own words) miftake Resem- . B1ANCES The curious reader is more particularly referr'd to that exten- five and elaborate feries of quotation, entitled, " Vir. giuus Col- LATIONE ScRIPTORUM GS..7ECORUM ILLUSTRATUS OPERA« less