Joseph Warton (April 1722 – 23 February 1800) was an English clergyman, academic, andliterary critic.
Warton was born inDunsfold,Surrey, England. His family later moved toHampshire, where his father, the ReverendThomas Warton, became vicar ofBasingstoke. A few years later in Basingstoke, Joseph's sisterJane, also a writer, and his younger brother,Thomas Warton, were born. Their father later became a professor at theUniversity of Oxford.
Joseph was educated atWinchester College and atOriel College, Oxford.
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In 1748, Warton followed his father into the church, becoming curate ofWinslade. In 1754, he was instituted as rector at The Church of All Saints,Tunworth.[1] In his early days Joseph wrote poetry, of which the most notable piece isThe Enthusiast (1744), an early precursor ofRomanticism.
In 1755, he returned to his old school to teach, and from 1766 to 1793 was its headmaster, presiding over a period of bad discipline and idleness, provoking three mutinies by the boys.[2] His career as a critic was always more illustrious, and he produced editions of classical poets such asVirgil as well as Englishpoets includingJohn Dryden.
Like his brother, Warton was a friend ofSamuel Johnson, and was part of the literary coterie centered around publisherRobert Dodsley.
A monument to Joseph Warton by the neoclassical sculptorJohn Flaxman is inWinchester Cathedral.
