Hegel's "Æsthetik," or "Philosophy of Fine Art," is a work which should no longer be inaccessible to the English reading public, but the reproduction of which, in its complete form of 1600 pages, is a task not to be lightly undertaken. I know of three partial reproductions of the "Æsthetik" in English, viz. Mr. Bryant's translation of Part II.,[1] Mr. Kedney's short analysis of the entire work,[2] and Mr. Hastie's translation of Michelet's short "Philosophy of Art,"[3] prefaced by Hegel's Introduction, partly translated and partly analysed.

I wholly disapprove of analyses (among which may be reckoned Michelet's summary above mentioned) as representations of Hegel's writing, which is attractive chiefly by the force and freshness of its detail. I am convinced that Hegel should be allowed to speak for himself, and that failing the translation of the whole "Æsthetik," or of very copious selections, the best course is that which I have adopted in the present volume, viz. to translate the entire Introduction, including the chapter entitled, "Division of the Subject." This Introduction is in Hegel's best manner—so far as he can be said to have literary manner at all, especially in a work which has been produced by editors from lecture-notes,—and is tolerably complete in itself. It is not contained as a whole in any of the above-mentioned works. I ought to say, however, that Mr. Hastie's translation is excellent in style; but after the first thirty-four pages it also becomes an analysis. Nor is it wholly free from serious mistakes. I have hoped that the present volume may be of interest to many who, without being students of philosophy, are intelligent lovers of art. I have therefore done my best to interpret philosophical expressions, instead of merely furnishing their technical equivalents. I have also added a few short notes, either to explain literary allusions, or to complete the interpretation of technical terms. The prefatory essay was written with a similar intention, not as original speculation, but as an assistance to general readers in apprehending the point of view from which Fine Art is regarded by Hegel and kindred writers.

I have broken up the "Einleitung," or Introduction proper, which is continuous in the original, into four chapters,[4] hoping that the arrangement of the discussion may be thus rendered easier to follow. The "Eintheilung," which forms my Chapter V., is a separate chapter in the original. The table of contents is translated from the original, excepting those portions of it which are enclosed in square brackets, [ ].

My literary notes are entirely borrowed from the late Mrs. F. C. Conybeare's translation of Scherer's "History of German Literature;" a work invaluable to the English student, whose gratitude must for long be saddened by the untimely death of the translator.