• Part 1: Keats and the historical method in literary criticism. Part 2 Textual studies and practical criticism: the monks and the giants - textual and bibliographical studies and the interpretation of literary works; shall these bones live?; the text, the poem and the problem of historical method. Part 3 Interpretation and critical history: "The Ancient Mariner" - the meaning of the meanings; Tennyson and the histories of criticism. Part 4 Problems of canon and periodization - the case of Christina Rossetti: Christina Rossetti's poems - a new edition and a revaluation; the religious poetry of Christina Rossetti. Part 5 Literature and the critique of history: the book of Byron and the book of a world; the anachronism of George Crabbe; Rome and its Romantic significance. Conclusion: imaginative belief and critical commitment. Theses on the philosophy of criticism.

'Few practising critics can speak concurrently on scholarly, critical, and theoretical issues with the authority of McGann... The Beauty of Inflections represents a major practical and theoretical intervention.' Modern Language Notes

• Part 1: Keats and the historical method in literary criticism. Part 2 Textual studies and practical criticism: the monks and the giants - textual and bibliographical studies and the interpretation of literary works; shall these bones live?; the text, the poem and the problem of historical method. Part 3 Interpretation and critical history: "The Ancient Mariner" - the meaning of the meanings; Tennyson and the histories of criticism. Part 4 Problems of canon and periodization - the case of Christina Rossetti: Christina Rossetti's poems - a new edition and a revaluation; the religious poetry of Christina Rossetti. Part 5 Literature and the critique of history: the book of Byron and the book of a world; the anachronism of George Crabbe; Rome and its Romantic significance. Conclusion: imaginative belief and critical commitment. Theses on the philosophy of criticism.

'Few practising critics can speak concurrently on scholarly, critical, and theoretical issues with the authority of McGann... The Beauty of Inflections represents a major practical and theoretical intervention.' Modern Language Notes

• Part 1: Keats and the historical method in literary criticism. Part 2 Textual studies and practical criticism: the monks and the giants - textual and bibliographical studies and the interpretation of literary works; shall these bones live?; the text, the poem and the problem of historical method. Part 3 Interpretation and critical history: "The Ancient Mariner" - the meaning of the meanings; Tennyson and the histories of criticism. Part 4 Problems of canon and periodization - the case of Christina Rossetti: Christina Rossetti's poems - a new edition and a revaluation; the religious poetry of Christina Rossetti. Part 5 Literature and the critique of history: the book of Byron and the book of a world; the anachronism of George Crabbe; Rome and its Romantic significance. Conclusion: imaginative belief and critical commitment. Theses on the philosophy of criticism.

'Few practising critics can speak concurrently on scholarly, critical, and theoretical issues with the authority of McGann... The Beauty of Inflections represents a major practical and theoretical intervention.' Modern Language Notes