List of Illustrations. Translator's Preface. Foreword to the English Edition by Giuliano Crifò. Introduction by Giuliano Crifò. PART ONE - ON THE NATURE OF RHETORIC. Chapter 1. The Term Rhetoric. Chapter 2. The Nature of Rhetoric. Chapter 3. The Parts of the Office of the Orator. Chapter 4. The Subject Matter of Rhetoric. Chapter 5. Aids for Eloquence. Chapter 6. Aids from Nature. Chapter 7. Why Excellent Orators Are so Rare. Chapter 8. The Civil Education of the Future Orator. Chapter 9. Instruction in Letters Preparatory to Rhetoric. Chapter 10. Aids for the Art of Rhetoric. Chapter 11. On Invention. Chapter 12. On Arguments for Teaching. Chapter 13. On the Art of Topics. Chapter 14. Examples of Loci. Chapter 15. Ways of Introducing Examples. Chapter 16. Ways of Introducing Testimonies. Chapter 17. The Loci of Arguments for Conciliating. Chapter 18. From the Loci of Arguments for Arousal. Chapter 19. The Loci of Arguments Common to the Three Types of Causes. Chapter 20. The Demonstrative Cause. Chapter 21. The Deliberative Cause. Chapter 22. The Judicial Cause. Chapter 23. The Selection of Loci or the Art of Criticism. Chapter 24. The Disposition. Chapter 25. The Exordium. Chapter 26. The Narration. Chapter 27. The Digression. Chapter 28. On Propositions. Chapter 29. The Division. Chapter 30. The Confirmation. Chapter 31. The Amplification. Chapter 32. The Confutation. Chapter 33. The Peroration. PART TWO - ON THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING. Chapter 34. On Elocution. Chapter 35. The Elegance of the Latin Speech. Chapter 36. The Ages of the Latin Language. Chapter 37. On Conceits, or Del Ben Parlare in Concetti. Chapter 38. On Dignity. Chapter 39. On the Genus of Tropes. Chapter 40. On Metaphor. Chapter 41. On Metonymy. Chapter 42. On Synecdoche. Chapter 43. On Irony. Chapter 44. On the Moods of Tropes. Chapter 45. On the Species of Tropes. Chapter 46. On False Tropes. Chapter 47. On Rhetorical Devices or Figures. Chapter 48. On the Figures of Words-Primarily Those which Consist in Terseness or Prolongation. Chapter 49. On the Figures of Words Used in Repetition. Chapter 50. On the Figures of Words-Collocation. Chapter 51. On the Figures of Words Related to Delivery. Chapter 52. On the Figures of Words-Connection. Chapter 53. On the Figures of Words-Variation in Case Endings. Chapter 54. On the Figures of Words-Similarities in Sound. Chapter 55. On the Figures of Words-Harmonics. Chapter 56. On the Figures of Thought. Chapter 57. On the Figures of Thought for Proving. Chapter 58: On the Figures of Thought for Explication. Chapter 59. On the Figures of Thought for Depicting Customs. Chapter 60. On the Figures of Thought for Arousing the Spirits, or On the Fires of Eloquence. Chapter 61. On the Figures of Thought Concerning Arrangement. Chapter 62. On Composition. Chapter 63. On Joining. Chapter 64. On the Period. Chapter 65. On the Meter. Chapter 66. On the Styles of Speaking. Chapter 67. On Memory and Delivery. Appendix 1. Examples from the Collectio Phrasium. Appendix 2. Glosses. Appendix 3. Glossary and Rhetorical Terms. Commentary to Vico's Institutiones Oratoriae By Giuliano Crifò. List of Sources Cited. Index of Proper Names. About the Author. About the Translators and Editors.

"… a volume of considerable importance. …should help move the study of rhetorical theory, … in the exciting directions of the philosophy of mentality, psychoanalysis, and the history of ideas … the volume performs a much needed intellectual task …" - in: Pragmatics & Cognition, Vol. 7(2) (1999) "…a welcome and valuable new resource for Vico studies in English." - in: Forum Italicum, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Spring 1997) "This volume is a significant addition to the body of works by Giambattista Vico currently available in English … rewarding reading …" - in: Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies, Vol. 19 (1998)