Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres

Smith, Adam; Bryce, J. C.

ISBN 10: 0865970521 / ISBN 13: 9780865970526

Published by Liberty Fund, 1985

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 4887568-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres
• Publisher: Liberty Fund
• Publication Date: 1985
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0865970521
• ISBN 13: 9780865970526
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The “Notes of Dr. Smith’s Rhetorick Lectures,” discovered in 1958 by a University of Aberdeen professor, consists of lecture notes taken by two of Smith’s students at the University of Glasgow in 1762–1763. There are thirty lectures in the collection, all on rhetoric and the different kinds or characteristics of style.

The book is divided into “an examination of the several ways of communicating our thoughts by speech” and “an attention to the principles of those literary compositions which contribute to persuasion or entertainment.” The species of communication discussed include descriptive and narrative (or historical) composition, poetry, demonstrative oratory, panegyric, didactic or scientific language, deliberative oratory, and judicial or forensic oratory.

The subjects addressed in his teachings include the style and genius of some of the best of the ancient writers and poets, especially the historians and the English classics.

About the Author

John M. Lothian, former Professor of English in the University of Sas­katchewan, is Reader in English in the University of Aberdeen.