James L. Battersby's research focused on Restoration and eighteenth-century literature, history of criticism and critical theory. He is the author of Typical Folly: Evaluating Student Performance in Higher Education; Rational Praise and Natural Lamentation: Johnson, "Lycidas," and Principles of Criticism; Elder Olson: An Annotated Bibliography; Paradigms Regained: Pluralism and the Practice of Criticism; Reason and the Nature of Texts; Unorthodox Views: Reflections on Reality, Truth, and Meaning in Current Social, Cultural, and Critical Discourse; 7 Poets and articles on eighteenth-century literature and literary criticism. Battersby is editor of the forthcoming Life of Addison in the Yale edition of the works of Samuel Johnson.