textual criticism

American  

noun

1. lower criticism.

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textual criticism British  

noun

1. the scholarly study of manuscripts, esp of the Bible, in an effort to establish the original text

2. literary criticism emphasizing a close analysis of the text

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• textual critic
  noun

Etymology

Origin of textual criticism

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Try to imagine this today: For almost a year, textual criticism was happening, and red-hot copies of The New York Review of Books flew off the newsstands.

From New York Times • Jun. 12, 2018

Which is a lot to ask of a book and more to ask of a play, as textual criticism tends to offer limited catharsis and thrills.

From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2017

They concede the need for textual criticism, admit that many passages must be interpreted symbolically rather than literally.

From Time Magazine Archive

From both seminaries and secular institutions, scholars are drawing on science, archaeology and modern textual criticism to write a chapter of Christianity that makes little mention of miracles except to reject them.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the light of the knowledge which he and other scholars have thrown upon textual criticism, it is unlikely that there will ever be poor texts of Shakespeare reprinted.

From An Introduction to Shakespeare by MacCracken, H. N.