Jean-Francois Lyotard wrote a work discussing this from a postmodern perspective, called "Lessons on the Analytic of" this concept.  
Samuel Monk wrote a 1935 work that studied "critical theories" of this concept in 18th century England.   One of the earliest descriptions of it in modern times comes from John Dennis, who discussed it in relation to a Grand Tour of the Alps he had made, while it was said to "arise from visible objects" in a work by Joseph Addison.  Jean-Francois Lyotard wrote a work discussing this from a postmodern perspective, called "Lessons on the Analytic of" this concept.  It was divided into mathematical and dynamical forms and said to belong to Reason rather than Understanding in Critique of Judgment, while vastness, obscurity, and terror were associated with this concept by Edmund Burke.  Subject of a treatise by Longinus, FTP,  name this aesthetic notion that both Kant and Burke contrasted with "the Beautiful."
Samuel Monk wrote a 1935 work that studied "critical theories" of this concept in 18th century England.   
the {sublime}  (accept word forms like {sublimity})