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Praeterita #1-3
Praeterita
John Ruskin was one of the most influential men of his day, and Praeterita, his autobiography, offers fascinating insights into many of the topics in which he was pre-eminent: art, architecture, J. M. W. Turner, nature, politics, and travel. This is the first major new edition since 1908, including passages excised from the original printed editions. The Introduction sets the autobiography in the context of Ruskin's life at the time of writing and discusses its fractured nature and unique style. Thorough explanatory notes illuminate the many references and allusions and the Glossary of Persons Mentioned provides a gazetteer of Ruskin's social and intellectual circle.
About the Series For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
About the Series For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1886
30 people are currently reading
717 people want to read
About the author
John Ruskin
3,738 books485 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
John Ruskin was an English writer, philosopher, art historian, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
Ruskin was heavily engaged by the work of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc which he taught to all his pupils including William Morris, notably Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary, which he considered as "the only book of any value on architecture". Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M.W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organisation that endures today.
John Ruskin was an English writer, philosopher, art historian, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
Ruskin was heavily engaged by the work of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc which he taught to all his pupils including William Morris, notably Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary, which he considered as "the only book of any value on architecture". Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M.W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organisation that endures today.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 7, 2011
Well this is Volume two completed. And it takes him up to 1849 and the death of his beloved cousin Mary. My set of books is an edition from 1899. At this point the great man was still actually alive and it is astounding to be holding this lovely heavy volume, letting it fall open and turn the pages and smell the history of Lord knows how many readers rising off them. ( Beat that if you can Kindle ) .This is the account of his rising into manhood and the publications of his first few volumes of writing, of which there were so many. The book itself breathes history. On my shelves I have a good number of books published in the 1880's and 1890's and i never fail to get that frisson of wonder at the thought of all the other men and women who have turned these pages and been wowed by the ideas and reflections they encounter. Praeterita is not going to turn you into a Ruskin scholar but it might well encourage you to want to find out more about this man's incredible brain and courage and the enormous influence he had on so much of society; many of his ideas came to be adopted and put into practice in the UK but many of them years after his death which came just a year or so after the printing of the volume i have been reading.
There is a gentle poking of humour at his younger self ; at his dismissive attitudes, his quick judgements, his ideas which, though new and revolutionary in some spheres, become he now sees as swiftly entrenched and unchangeable as the ones he mocks. He, with the distance of years, does not take his younger self too seriously but you still catch glimpses of the incisive wisdom and preparedness to raise his head above the parapet of popular opinion which was to be so prevalent in his middle years.
He often quotes from the diaries of this younger man in the account and some of the entries are beautiful
' And always the steep banks, one above another, melting into terraces of pure velvet, gilded with corn; Here and there a black - jet-black - crag of slate breaking into a frown above them, and mouldering away down into the gloomy torrent bed, fringed on its opposite edge, a grisly cliff, with delicate birch and pine rising against the snow light of Mont Blanc '
or again the simple description of a river
' the water thrills imperceptibly through the crannies of its fallen stones, deeper and deeper every instant; till within three fathoms of its first trickling thread,it is a deep stream of dazzling brightness, dividing into swift branches eager for their work at the mill, or their ministry to the meadows. '
my ' Got up, had breakfast, it rained ' pales somewhat
There is a gentle poking of humour at his younger self ; at his dismissive attitudes, his quick judgements, his ideas which, though new and revolutionary in some spheres, become he now sees as swiftly entrenched and unchangeable as the ones he mocks. He, with the distance of years, does not take his younger self too seriously but you still catch glimpses of the incisive wisdom and preparedness to raise his head above the parapet of popular opinion which was to be so prevalent in his middle years.
He often quotes from the diaries of this younger man in the account and some of the entries are beautiful
' And always the steep banks, one above another, melting into terraces of pure velvet, gilded with corn; Here and there a black - jet-black - crag of slate breaking into a frown above them, and mouldering away down into the gloomy torrent bed, fringed on its opposite edge, a grisly cliff, with delicate birch and pine rising against the snow light of Mont Blanc '
or again the simple description of a river
' the water thrills imperceptibly through the crannies of its fallen stones, deeper and deeper every instant; till within three fathoms of its first trickling thread,it is a deep stream of dazzling brightness, dividing into swift branches eager for their work at the mill, or their ministry to the meadows. '
my ' Got up, had breakfast, it rained ' pales somewhat
January 15, 2016
Ruskin is one of the great writers of English prose or one of the writers of great English Prose and reading him is a pleasure.
This book was published originally in three parts, and abandoned due to health reasons. All three are collected here with an assortment of secondary documents, 'Dilecta'.
As an Autobiography 'Praeterita' is strange. If you knew nothing about Ruskin, you wouldn't learn much by way of detail. There is no mention for example of his marriage, and while Rose de la Touche is mentioned, if you didn't know their story, there's no way of discerning it here. His career as critic happens off stage. The rise to eminence, the various projects, and the intermittent 'madness' are all absent. The final chapter is as much a discussion of Sir Walter Scot as anything autobiographical.
On the other hand, it is a very revealing autobiography. Ruskin's most intense memories, and the 'moments of being' he recollects most vividly, concern seeing: mountains, valleys, a flower, a river, and of course works of art. People seem peripheral, and that might be revealing. He remembers friends, but almost with an effort. Though his parents sound like the most important people in his life, they never become emerge as characters in his narrative. His memories of childhood, recounted with an absence of sentimentality, are those of an only child, stringently educated by his mother but otherwise alone, without friends, looking and watching.
As self analysis, it is often ruthless: Old Ruskin is not often impressed with Young Ruskin.
But I don't think many people have described moving water, or light, or clouds or mountains, with such attention to detail and in such fine prose.
This book was published originally in three parts, and abandoned due to health reasons. All three are collected here with an assortment of secondary documents, 'Dilecta'.
As an Autobiography 'Praeterita' is strange. If you knew nothing about Ruskin, you wouldn't learn much by way of detail. There is no mention for example of his marriage, and while Rose de la Touche is mentioned, if you didn't know their story, there's no way of discerning it here. His career as critic happens off stage. The rise to eminence, the various projects, and the intermittent 'madness' are all absent. The final chapter is as much a discussion of Sir Walter Scot as anything autobiographical.
On the other hand, it is a very revealing autobiography. Ruskin's most intense memories, and the 'moments of being' he recollects most vividly, concern seeing: mountains, valleys, a flower, a river, and of course works of art. People seem peripheral, and that might be revealing. He remembers friends, but almost with an effort. Though his parents sound like the most important people in his life, they never become emerge as characters in his narrative. His memories of childhood, recounted with an absence of sentimentality, are those of an only child, stringently educated by his mother but otherwise alone, without friends, looking and watching.
As self analysis, it is often ruthless: Old Ruskin is not often impressed with Young Ruskin.
But I don't think many people have described moving water, or light, or clouds or mountains, with such attention to detail and in such fine prose.
July 19, 2023
Was John Ruskin autistic? While reading this memoir (btw, new desert-island book; what delightful prose!), several of Ruskin's childhood idiosyncracies struck me as behaviours often associated with being on the spectrum. I've written about this on my substack: https://paulsanchez.substack.com/p/wa...
On that note, I imagine many of you here follow me because you like what I have to say on the books I read. I've not been posting any reviews on Goodreads lately, but I will write about books on my Substack (like this article on angels, aliens and animal rights: https://paulsanchez.substack.com/p/co...). But generally I'll write about anything I find interesting.
I'd love to grow my substack subscriber base, so if enjoy the stuff I write, I'd be delighted if you subscribe to the mailing list at the end of the articles.
On that note, I imagine many of you here follow me because you like what I have to say on the books I read. I've not been posting any reviews on Goodreads lately, but I will write about books on my Substack (like this article on angels, aliens and animal rights: https://paulsanchez.substack.com/p/co...). But generally I'll write about anything I find interesting.
I'd love to grow my substack subscriber base, so if enjoy the stuff I write, I'd be delighted if you subscribe to the mailing list at the end of the articles.
January 30, 2021
I've read a number of strange books, but it's difficult to think of one as strange, discursive, recursive, erudite, self-doubting, and self-effacing as Ruskin's Praeterita, which can only be called autobiography or memoir for the sake of convenience. For all that -- (because I can't say whether these qualities speak positively or negatively for its genius) -- I'll never tire of the balance, beauty, and splendor of his sentences, with which this work overflows.
I had built behind the highest cluster of laurels a reservoir, from which, on sunny afternoons, I could let a quite rippling film of water run for a couple of hours down behind the hayfield, where the grass in spring still grew fresh and deep. There used to be always a corncrake or two in it. Twilight after twilight I have hunted that bird, and never once got glimpse of it: the voice was always at the other side of the field, or in the inscrutable air or earth. And the little stream had its falls, and pools, and imaginary lakes. Here and there it laid for itself lines of graceful sand; there and here it lost itself under beads of chalcedony. It wasn't the Liffey, nor the Nith, nor the Wandel; but the two girls were surely a little cruel to call it "The Gutter"! Happiest times, for all of us, that were ever to be; not but that Joanie and her Arthur are giddy enough, both of them yet, with their five little ones, but they have been sorely anxious about me, and I have been sorrowful enough for myself, since ever I lost sight of that peach-blossom avenue. "Eden-land" Rosie calls it sometimes in her letters. Whether its tiny river were of the waters of Abana, or Euphrates, or Thamesis, I know not, but they were sweeter to my thirst than the fountains of Trevi or Branda.
I had built behind the highest cluster of laurels a reservoir, from which, on sunny afternoons, I could let a quite rippling film of water run for a couple of hours down behind the hayfield, where the grass in spring still grew fresh and deep. There used to be always a corncrake or two in it. Twilight after twilight I have hunted that bird, and never once got glimpse of it: the voice was always at the other side of the field, or in the inscrutable air or earth. And the little stream had its falls, and pools, and imaginary lakes. Here and there it laid for itself lines of graceful sand; there and here it lost itself under beads of chalcedony. It wasn't the Liffey, nor the Nith, nor the Wandel; but the two girls were surely a little cruel to call it "The Gutter"! Happiest times, for all of us, that were ever to be; not but that Joanie and her Arthur are giddy enough, both of them yet, with their five little ones, but they have been sorely anxious about me, and I have been sorrowful enough for myself, since ever I lost sight of that peach-blossom avenue. "Eden-land" Rosie calls it sometimes in her letters. Whether its tiny river were of the waters of Abana, or Euphrates, or Thamesis, I know not, but they were sweeter to my thirst than the fountains of Trevi or Branda.
February 28, 2021
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.
TABLE DES MATIÈRES
Chapitre I. Les sources de la Wandel
Chapitre II. Herne Hill.--Les amandiers en fleur
Chapitre III. Les rives de la Tay
Chapitre IV. Sous de nouveaux maîtres
Chapitre V. Le Parnasse et le Flynlimmon
Chapitre VI. Schaffhouse et Milan
Chapitre VII. Papa et maman
Chapitre VIII. Vester, Camenæ
Chapitre IX. Le col de la Faucille
Chapitre X. Quem tu, Melpomene
Chapitre XI. Le chœur de Christ Church
Chapitre XII. La chapelle de Roslyn
Chapitre XIII. Majorité
Chapitre XIV. Rome
Chapitre XV. Cumæ
Chapitre XVI. Fontainebleau
I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.
TABLE DES MATIÈRES
Chapitre I. Les sources de la Wandel
Chapitre II. Herne Hill.--Les amandiers en fleur
Chapitre III. Les rives de la Tay
Chapitre IV. Sous de nouveaux maîtres
Chapitre V. Le Parnasse et le Flynlimmon
Chapitre VI. Schaffhouse et Milan
Chapitre VII. Papa et maman
Chapitre VIII. Vester, Camenæ
Chapitre IX. Le col de la Faucille
Chapitre X. Quem tu, Melpomene
Chapitre XI. Le chœur de Christ Church
Chapitre XII. La chapelle de Roslyn
Chapitre XIII. Majorité
Chapitre XIV. Rome
Chapitre XV. Cumæ
Chapitre XVI. Fontainebleau
November 19, 2016
Didn't finish it. Very worthy, an educated and interesting man - but quite dry. Would be more interested to read a biography of his life. Or a coffee table illustrated book of his work and what influenced him.
Read
June 14, 2025A really beautiful book, except for the creepy relationship with the ten-year-old girl at the end. It seems fair to say that no one equals Ruskin when it comes to nature writing: his descriptions of water and clouds are always lovely. I envy his powers of observation. Autobiography is such a funny genre — if/when I read this again, I’ll pay more attention to the passages where it seems Ruskin is hiding something.
June 29, 2024
Some gorgeous passages and much insight into Ruskin
November 3, 2010
"Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art."
January 14, 2014
The Everyman edition of this book is a lovely production. Ruskin writing style is especially beautiful - which is why I found this book such a pleasure to read.
October 1, 2024
I genuinely have no idea why I was supposed to read this. What is the takeaway? That Ruskin is the most boring writer in existence, a decent artist, and probably a pedophile (the segment on Rose was so… and he hardly mentioned his actual wife??). So unenjoyable. I wouldn’t have minded how utterly boring it was if the prose was good, but it wasn’t.
July 26, 2020
Didn't find to be that engaging as a book, but it was interesting to learn about John Ruskin, he is an interesting guy.
October 1, 2024
fuck this noise
January 3, 2025
Ermmmm far from a favorite book but valid bc this guy rambles about the places he’s been like I ramble about the Great State of Minnesota, sooo.
Read
November 1, 2017"Fonte Branda I last saw with Charles Norton, under the same arches where Dante saw it. We drank of it together, and walked together that evening on the hills above, where the fireflies among the scented thickets shone fit-fully in the still undarkened air." I read this a long time ago when preparing myself for Proust. Apparently Marcel had the whole thing memorized before writing his great novel.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews