This volume derives its title from John Dryden's phrase for the British tendency to take up literary masterpieces from the past and "perfect" them. Here, Piero Boitani adopts Dryden's notion as a framework for exploring ways in which classical and medieval texts, scenes, and themes have been rewritten by modern authors. Boitani focuses on a concept of literary transition that takes into account both T.S. Eliot's idea of "tradition and individual talent" and Harold Bloom's "anxiety of influence". In five essays he examines a range of authors and texts, including Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Voltaire, Goethe, Sarte, Dante, and Keats.