What makes a literary work of art beautiful? What distinguishes this kind of beauty from others? In Europe, this problem has been repeatedly addressed in poetology and art theory. The present study is the first to trace the ramifications of the problem in a broader context, extending from antiquity to the 20th century. The conclusion is that in its engagement with beauty, literary esthetics takes an approach of its own to the identification of and reflection upon the nature of literature as a medium and the specific materiality and expository potential of literature, homing in not least on those things that defy communication by means of the written word.