A member of many of the clubs and societies of the Edinburgh literati, Blair was one of the influential figures of the Scottish enlightenment in the city. Entering the university at the age of 13, he became a well-respected minister at the Canongate kirk while building a second career as a teacher of rhetoric and belles-lettres. In 1760, Blair became professor of rhetoric at the University of Edinburgh where he was able to continue his teaching and support other endeavours, most notably the advocacy of the supposed writings of the poet Ossian, 'discovered' by James Macpherson in the Highlands of Scotland.

In 1783 he published this work, a summary of his lectures on rhetoric and belles-lettres in two quarto volumes. It was simultaneously printed in London and Edinburgh and became an important work for the study of rhetoric and literary criticism. Written for a more general readership than similar works, it covers all aspects of rhetoric: from lectures on taste and criticism to the origins of language, style and eloquence.