Because Thomas Rymer is best known for his scurrilous critique of William Shakespeare's Othello, still frequently (and usually condescendingly) quoted, it is easy to forget how important he is to the history of English literary criticism. From his translation of René Rapin to his discussions of tragedy, Rymer was at the forefront in transferring French neo-Aristotelian formalism across the Channel. Central in the Restoration debates about the relative merits of the ancients and moderns and about the relationship between art and nature, Rymer wrote the first English history of a literary genre (the epic), performed the first systematic analysis of a Shakespearean play, and coined the crucial critical term "poetical justice." If Samuel Johnson was correct in asserting that John Dryden was the "father of English criticism," then surely Rymer was a wealthy uncle who contributed greatly to its upbringing. His influences, both positive and negative, may...