(n.) Learning; acquaintance with letters or books.
(n.) The collective body of literary productions, embracing
the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also,
the whole body of literary productions or writings upon a given
subject, or in reference to a particular science or branch of
knowledge, or of a given country or period; as, the literature of
Biblical criticism; the literature of chemistry.
(n.) The class of writings distinguished for beauty of style
or expression, as poetry, essays, or history, in distinction from
scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge;
belles-lettres.
(n.) The occupation, profession, or business of doing
literary work.
