Thomas Warton

author

Thomas Warton

1728–1790

Best known for helping shape the study of English poetry, this 18th-century writer combined a poet’s imagination with a scholar’s love of old books. He went on to become Poet Laureate and remains closely linked with Oxford literary life.

1 Audiobook

A History of English Poetry: an Unpublished Continuation

A History of English Poetry: an Unpublished Continuation

by Thomas Warton

About the author

Born in Basingstoke on January 9, 1728, Thomas Warton was an English poet, critic, and literary historian. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford, spent much of his career there, and became one of the figures most associated with Oxford’s literary culture in the 18th century.

Warton is especially remembered for bringing fresh attention to earlier English writing. His best-known scholarly work, The History of English Poetry, helped make medieval and Renaissance literature more visible to later readers and scholars. Alongside his criticism, he also wrote poems and eventually served as Poet Laureate.

He was the younger son of Thomas Warton and the brother of Joseph Warton, so writing and learning ran strongly in the family. Thomas Warton died on May 21, 1790, but his reputation has lasted because he helped connect creative writing with serious literary study in a way that influenced generations after him.