Lectures on Rhetoric & Belles Lettres

by Adam Smith, J.C. Bryce (Editor)

The “Notes of Dr. Smith’s Rhetorick Lectures,” discovered in 1958 by a University of Aberdeen professor, consists of lecture notes taken by two of Smith’s students at the University of Glasgow in 1762–1763. There are thirty lectures in the collection, all on rhetoric and the different kinds or characteristics of style.

The book is divided into “an examination of the several ways of communicating our thoughts by speech” and “an attention to the principles of those literary compositions which contribute to persuasion or entertainment.” The species of communication discussed include descriptive and narrative (or historical) composition, poetry, demonstrative oratory, panegyric, didactic or scientific language, deliberative oratory, and judicial or forensic oratory.

The subjects addressed in his teachings include the style and genius of some of the best of the ancient writers and poets, especially the historians and the English classics.

Genres: Philosophy, Essays, Politics, Economics

291 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1763

About the author

For other authors of this name, see Adam Smith.

Adam Smith FRSA FRS FRSE was a Scottish philosopher and economist who was a pioneer in thinking on political economy and a key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. He wrote two classic works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter, often abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations , is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work that treats economics as a comprehensive system and as an academic discipline.

Authorities recorded his baptism on 16 June 1723 at Kirkcaldy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith

Reviews

[Craig Bolton]

"Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres (The Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, Vol. 4) by ADAM SMITH (1985)"