From These Roots - by Mary M. Colum - First Edition Hardcover Book

From These Roots: the ideas that have made modern literature
by Mary M. Colum
published by Columbia university Press, 1944

First Edition, Second Printing

Hardcover in very good used condition,
toning, rubbing, chipoing and open tears to dust jacket,
toning throughout interior, text is unmarked.

"Originally published by Scribner's in 1937, Mary Colum's interpretation of modern literature created a stir in the intellectual and literary world. Her thesis is that all great literature is directed and fostered by great criticism, that criticism at its highest is an intellectual force, a principle through which the world of ideas renews itself, which prunes and trims old ideas to satisfy new desires and aspirations.

Going back to the great critics and idea-makers of modern times, to Lessing and Herder, to Sainte-Beuve and Taine, the author uncovers the root-ideas from which modern literature has grown, and traces its development in many lands and writers, down to our own time."