Landmarks in Rhetoric and Public Address – serie

This new edition of Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, edited by Linda Ferreira-Buckley and S. Michael Halloran, answers the need for a complete, reliable text. Although the extent of its influence cannot be measured fully, Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres was undoubtedly a primary vehicle for introducing many eighteenth- and nineteenth-century scholars to classical rhetoric and French belletristic rhetoric - its success due in part to the ease with which the lectures combine neoclassical and Enlightenment thought, accommodating emerging social concerns. Ferreira-Buckley and Halloran's extensive treatment revives the tradition of belletristic rhetoric, improving the understanding of Blair's place in the study of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century discourse, while finding him relevant in the twenty-first. This edition also includes an introduction by the editors along with a table of variants in the 1783 and 1785 editions of the lectures, prepared by Gary Layne Hatch and Lara Calder. This edition contains forty-seven lectures and remains faithful to the text of the 1785 London edition. The editors contextualize Hugh Blair's motivations and thinking by providing an extended account of Blair's life and era. The bibliography of works by and about Blair is an invaluable aid, surpassing previous research on Blair.

Considered the first significant teacher of rhetoric in America, John Witherspoon also introduced Scottish moral philosophy to this country and as president of Princeton reformed the curriculum to give emphasis to both studies. He was an active pamphleteer on religious and political issues and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Editor Thomas P. Miller argues that Witherspoon’s career exemplifies the Ciceronian ideal, and the eight selections Miller presents from the 1802 American edition of the Works corroborate that claim. This new paperback edition includes a new preface by the editor of the volume that surveys the scholarship published on Witherspoon over the last twentyfive years and discusses how Miller’s own perspective on Witherspoon has changed during that time.

Demosthenes’ speech On the Crown (330 B.C.E.), in which the master orator spectacularly defended his public career, has long been recognized as a masterpiece. The speech has been in continuous circulation from Demosthenes’ lifetime to the present day, and multiple generations have acclaimed it as the greatest speech ever written. In addition to a clear and accessible translation, Demosthenes’ “On the Crown”: Rhetorical Perspectives includes eight essays that provide a thorough analysis—based on Aristotelian principles—of Demosthenes’ superb rhetoric. By bringing together contextual material about Demosthenes and his speech with a translation and astute rhetorical analyses, Demosthenes’ “On the Crown”: Rhetorical Perspectives highlights the oratorical artistry of Demosthenes and provides scholars and students with fresh insights into a landmark speech.