The concept of beauty in the eighteenth century, explored through philosophical texts, novels and art.

Introduction: the empire of beauty and the cultural politics of taste; 1. 'A wanton kind of chase': gender, commerce and the definition of taste in eighteenth-century Britain; 2. 'The art of being pretty': polite taste and the judgement of women; 3. 'Such strange unwonted softness': Sir Joshua Reynolds and the painting of beauty; 4. 'Her whole power of charming': the moral politics of beauty in the works of Charlotte Lennox and Sarah Scott; 5. 'The accomplishment of your long and ardent wishes': beauty, taste and the formation of culture in eighteenth-century Britain.