General Editor's Preface; Note on the Text; Introduction, G. M. Matthews; Chapter 1 First Promise; sec1-1 A wanderer in the fields of fancy; sec1-2 Leigh Hunt introduces a new poet, Leigh Hunt; sec1-3 Wordsworth on Keats, William Wordsworth; Chapter 2 Poems; sec2-1 Unsigned review by J. H. Reynolds, Champion; sec2-2 Unsigned notice, Monthly Magazine; sec2-3 G. F. Mathew on Keats's Poems, 1817, G. F. Mathew; sec2-4 Leigh Hunt announces a new school of poetry, Leigh Hunt; sec2-5 A very facetious rhymer; sec2-6 Unsigned review, Edinburgh Magazine, and Literary Miscellany (Scots Magazine); Chapter 3 Endymion: A Poetic Romance; sec3-1 Letters and prefaces; sec3-2 Unsigned review, Literary Journal and General Miscellany of Science, Arts, etc.; sec3-3 Bailey advertises Endymion; sec3-4 A great original work; sec3-5 A monstrously droll poem; sec3-6 Lockhart's attack in Blackwood's, John Gibson Lockhart; sec3-7 Croker's attack in the Quarterly, John Wilson Croker; sec3-8 A protest against the Quarterly; sec3-9 Reynolds also protests; sec3-10 Shelley on Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley; sec3-11 Byron on the 'Trash of Keats', George Gordon Byron; sec3-12 Not a poem, but a dream of poetry; Chapter 4 Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes, and Other Poems; sec4-1 Keats's indelicacy alarms his friends; sec4-2 Clare on Keats, John Clare; sec4-3 Prodigal phrases; sec4-4 Unsigned review, Monthly Review; sec4-5 Unsigned notice, Literary Chronicle and Weekly Review; sec4-6 Leigh Hunt displays Keats's 'calm power', Leigh Hunt; sec4-7 Unsigned review, Guardian; sec4-8 Unsigned review, London Magazine and Monthly Critical and Dramatic Review (Gold's); sec4-9 Jeffrey on Keats, Francis Jeffrey; sec4-10 Unsigned review, Edinburgh Magazine, and Literary Miscellany (Scots Magazine); sec4-11 Unsigned review, New Monthly Magazine; sec4-12 Unsigned review, London Magazine (Baldwin's); sec4-13 Unsigned notice, Monthly Magazine; sec4-14 Unsigned review, British Critic; sec4-15 A mischief at the core; sec4-16 Error and imagination; Chapter 5 Obituaries; sec5-1 The death of Mr John Keats; sec5-2 The death of genius; sec5-3 The death of a radically presumptuous profligate; Chapter 6 Posthumous Reputation; sec6-1 Hazlitt on Keats, William Hazlitt; sec6-2 Leigh Hunt: retrospective views of Keats, Leigh Hunt; sec6-3 A Titan in spirit; sec6-4 Landor on Keats, Walter Savage Landor; sec6-5 Memoir in Galignani's edition; sec6-6 The significance of Keats's work; sec6-7 The Quarterly is unrepentant; sec6-8 A misleading textbook account; sec6-9 A commentary on two poems; sec6-10 A good half-poet; sec6-11 Elizabeth Barrett Browning on Keats, Elizabeth Barrett Browning; sec6-12 'Orion' Home on Keats; sec6-13 An American dialogue on Keats; sec6-14 Gilfillan on Keats, George Gilfillan; sec6-15 De Quincey on Keats, Thomas De Quincey; sec6-16 Unsurpassed vigour and acumen; Chapter 7 Milnes's Life, Letters and Literary Remains of John Keats; sec7-1 Keats's firstJustice in the market-place; sec7-3 Arnold on Keats, Matthew Arnold; sec7-4 Extracts from unsigned review of Milnes's Life, Gentleman's Magazine; sec7-5 The sensual school of poetry; sec7-6 Shelley, Keats and Tennyson compared; Chapter 8 Established Fame; sec8-1 The language of actual life; sec8-2 Bagehot on Keats, Walter Bagehot; sec8-3 Ideas made concrete; sec8-4 Lowell on Keats, Amy Lowell; sec8-5 Cardinal Wiseman on Keats; sec8-6 Keats in the Encyclopedia Britannica; sec8-7 A rich intellectual foundation; sec8-8 Cowden Clarke on Keats, Cowden Clarke; sec8-9 Joseph Severn looks back Appendix: The Principal Early Editions of Keats's Poetry;

The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling student and researcher to read the material themselves.