The tone of I. A. Richards' writings on language and literature is so striking, so obtrusive, that the reader cannot help picturing the author as he reads: the brash, impatient, perhaps glib, but always clearheaded iconoclast behind such works as Principles of Literary Criticism (1924) and Science and Poetry (1926); the wise, unassuming, somewhat vague guide behind the essays in Speculative Instruments (1955). Without the advantage of Richards' own discussion of tone …, the reader might wonder whether the author underwent severe alterations in personality between writing the earlier and the later works; with it in mind, he need only assume that Richards sensed a change in his audience which demanded a different stance. In any event, tone remains perhaps the most memorable feature of Richards' writings, and the one which will ensure their continuing appeal.

Nevertheless, the obtrusiveness of his style is unfortunate, for it is partly to this that we...