During the middle years of the eighteenth century, William Warburton achieved an eminence as a scholar and man of letters not surpassed by Samuel Johnson himself. Brilliant, rash, daring, intuitive, zealous in pursuit of paradox and controversy, he commanded attention and respect for his vast learning and powerful intellect. As a speculative theologian, literary historian, critic, and editor of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope, he demonstrated a breadth of learning which compelled admiration even from writers who deplored his relish for controversy. Arrogant and aggressive in his defense of orthodox Christian doctrine, yet gentle and solicitous to his friends, he presents a complex and contradictory character driven by apparently inexhaustible energy and insatiable curiosity. Warburton was at the hub of midcentury literary activities: as an Anglican clergyman who later became bishop of Gloucester, he took part in significant clerical debates, wrote influential sermons, and drew international recognition and...