The first two volumes of René Wellek's projected four-volume "History of Modern Criticism" carries the story from the later eighteenth century through the Romantic Age. By "modern" Mr. Wellek means criticism which is close enough to us still to have some relevance to our present way (or ways) of looking at literature. (p. 24)

I can think of no one better qualified than Mr. Wellek for the task of writing the history of modern European criticism. In the first place, he knows the languages and the literatures at first hand, and he is at home in the whole European literary scene in a way that few contemporary English or American scholars can claim to be. Whether he quotes from Wackenroder, Chateaubriand, or Manzoni, we know he has read them in their original languages, and is not dependent on summaries in works of reference. Secondly, he has devoted many years...