An Analytical Inquiry Into The Principles Of Taste. The Second Edition.[ By Richard Payne Knight Of Downton Castle]

London: T. Payne and J. White, 1805. Second Edition . Boards. Good. 8 7/16" Tall. Xxiv, 470. Ancient Blue Paper Apparently Over Earlier Full Calf, Later Paper Spine, Paper Label With Handwritten Author And Title, And London 1805 Handwritten Below On Spine. A Few Short Pencil Notes On Endpapers, No Other Names Or Marks. Quite Worn, Frayed And Chipped At Corners. Pages With Light Foxing In Text Block, A Few Tiny Spots, Otherwise Clean And Crisp, Edges Of Page Block Retain Original Polish. Per Wikipedia, Richard Payne Knight ( 1751 - 1824) Of Downton Castle In Herefordshire, And Of 5 Soho Square, London, England, Was A Classical Scholar, Connoisseur, Archaeologist And Numismatist Best Known For His Theories Of Picturesque Beauty And For His Interest In Ancient Phallic Imagery. He Served As A Member Of Parliament For Leominster (1780-84) And For Ludlow (1784-1806). An Analytical Inquiry Into The Principles Of Taste, 1805, Was Knight's Most Influential Work In His Lifetime. This Book Sought To Explain The Experience Of 'Taste' Within The Mind And To Clarify The Theorization Of The Concept Of The Picturesque, Following From The Writings Of William Gilpin And Uvedale Price On The Subject. Knight's Views On The Aesthetics Of The Picturesque Are Also Formed In Engagement With Edmund Burke's Emphasis On The Importance Of Sensation, Which Knight Partly Rejects In Favor Of A Modified Associationism. The Philosophical Basis Of Knight's Theories Have Implications For His Account Of The Relationship Between The 'Beautiful' And The 'Picturesque'. For Knight, Aesthetic Concepts Cannot Be Formed Directly From Optical Sensations, Because These Must Be Interpreted Within The Mind Before They Can Be Recognized As Beautiful. Thus A Classical Architecture Roman Temple Is Beautiful Because Of The Proportions Of Its Parts, But These Proportions Can Never Be Perceived Directly By The Senses, Which Will Simply Encounter A Mass Of Confused Impressions. 'Beauty' Is Thus A Product Of Internal Mental Acts. It Is Therefore Proper To Speak Of Moral, Mathematical And Other Non-Sensuous Forms Of Beauty, Contrary To Burke, Hogarth And Others Who Claimed Such Usages Were Metaphorical. In All Cases 'The Particular Object [E.G. Proportion] Is An Abstract Idea.'