Studies in the History of the Renaissance (Collected Works of Walter Pater) (Library Binding)

~ Walter Pater (Author)

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Product Description

Through his highly idiosyncratic readings of some of the finest paintings, sculptures, and poems of the French and Italian Renaissance, Walter Pater in Studies in the History of the Renaissance redefined the practice of criticism as an impressionistic, almost erotic exploration of the critic's aesthetic responses. Pater's infamous "Conclusion," which forever linked him with the decadent movement, scandalized many with its insistence on making pleasure the sole motive of life, even as it charmed fellow aesthetes such as Oscar Wilde. This edition of Studies reproduces the text of the first edition of 1873. Matthew Beaumont's Introduction describes the cultural context that gave rise to the book, the reasons for its notoriety, Pater's philosophical outlook, and the arguments in his book. It explores Pater's work as an attempt to preserve the unique aesthetic of a work of art in the face of encroaching mass culture. The book also includes the later chapter on Giorgione as an Appendix, comprehensive notes that identify the many literary and artistic references, and a useful glossary of names. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Matthew Beaumont is Senior Lecturer in English at the University College London.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Classic Books (May 2000)
• ISBN-10: 074262417X
• ISBN-13: 978-0742624177
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,156,916 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bookish Man Called A Rake, August 23, 2009

By	Martin Asiner "Adjunct College Instructor" (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Studies in the History of the Renaissance (Paperback)

Walter Pater was one of the mildest and least adventure seeking people imaginable. He was shy, retiring, and quite bookish. It came as a great surprise to him and to those who knew him well that his STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE RENAISSANCE was trumpeted as a call to indulge in the wildest of sexual and artistic excesses. Oscar Wilde, during his trial for homosexuality, admitted that Pater's works had been a significant influence on him. Pater was the first Victorian writer not to adhere to the credo that one must at all costs hold to a continuation of the painful quest for Truth that had dominated Oxford since the days of Newman. Pater, to the delight of his days' youthful rebels, assured his readers that the quest was pointless. Truth, he claimed, was relative. Instead of echoing Carlyle's call to duty and social responsibility, Pater reminded his readers that life passes all too quickly and that our only duty is to enjoy life right now while they still can. He urged his readers to relish the sensations of art. In this sense, he was a forerunner of Timothy Leary, the later Harvard psychologist who said, `Tune in, turn on, drop dead.' In the `Preface', Pater sets forth his initial attempt to define beauty and the goal of the critic who seeks to do so: `What is important then is not that the critic should possess a correct abstract definition of beauty for the intellect, but a certain kind of temperament the power of being deeply moved by the presence of beautiful objects.' It was the conclusion to his book that gave Pater his unwanted notoriety. He described life as a whirlpool with its `flame more eager and devouring.' Life is a `group of impressions--color, odor, texture--in the mind of the observer.' He urged his readers `to burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy.' He concludes with: `For our one chance in expanding that interval, in getting as many pulsations as possible into the given time. Great passions may give us this quickened sense of life, ecstasy, and sorrow of love.' Given that his readers were used to a call to live the straight and narrow life, Pater's call to `ecstasy' sounded most inviting.