Romanticism was always culturally diverse. Though English-language anthologies have previously tended to see Romanticism as predominantly British, the term itself actually originated in Germany, where it became the banner of a Europe-wide movement involving the profound intellectual and aesthetic changes which we now associate with modernity. This anthology is the first to place British Romanticism within a comprehensive and multi-lingual European context, showing how ideas and writers interconnected across national and linguistic boundaries. By reprinting everything in the original languages, together with an English translation of all non-English material in parallel on the opposite page, it offers a new intellectual map of Romanticism. Material is thematically arranged as follows:

- Art & Aesthetics
- The Self
- History
- Language
- Hermeneutics & Theology
- Nature
- The Exotic
- Science

While focusing on European texts, the inclusion of essays on their North American and Japanese reception means that Romanticism can be seen as a global phenomenon, influencing a surprising number of the ways in which the modern world sees itself.

Stephen Prickett is Regius Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Glasgow and Honorary Professor at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. He has previously held positions at Duke University, Baylor University, the Australian National University in Canberra, Smith College, Massachusetts, The University of Minnesota, Aarhus University, Denmark, and the National University of Singapore. He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities, former Chairman of the UK Higher Education Foundation, former President of the European Society for the Study of Literature and Theology and President of the George MacDonald Society.