The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature is a collection of essays regarding the nature of art by the philosopher Ayn Rand.

At the base of her argument, Rand asserts that one cannot create art without infusing a given work with one's own value judgments and personal philosophy.

Photography, for example, is invalid to her (qua art form) because a camera merely records the world exactly as it is and has very limited, if any, capacity to carry a moral message beyond the photographer's choice of subject matter.

The first eleven of the book's twelve chapters were essays originally written for periodicals and an introduction to an edition of Victor Hugo.

[11] Barry Vacker said that while the book "offers unique and valuable insights", it fails to "present a complete philosophy of fine art".