Studies in the History of the Renaissance

New Edition

Walter Pater
Edited by Matthew Beaumont

Oxford World's Classics

Pater's Studies in the History of the Renaissance is a highly influential defence of aestheticism, an extraordinary work of cultural criticism forever associated with the decadent movement at the end of the nineteenth century.
This new edition reproduces the first edition of 1873 and recaptures the impact made by the book on its first appearance. It includes the later chapter on Giorgione as an Appendix.
The 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.
Comprehensive notes identify the many literary and artistic references and echoes of Pater's other works.
Useful Glossary of Names.
Up-to-date bibliography.

Studies in the History of the Renaissance

New Edition

Walter Pater
Edited by Matthew Beaumont

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.

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.

Studies in the History of the Renaissance

New Edition

Walter Pater
Edited by Matthew Beaumont

Oxford World's Classics

Studies in the History of the Renaissance

New Edition

Walter Pater
Edited by Matthew Beaumont

Oxford World's Classics

Author Information

Matthew Beaumont is Senior Lecturer in English at the University College London.

Studies in the History of the Renaissance

New Edition

Walter Pater
Edited by Matthew Beaumont

Oxford World's Classics

From Our Blog

Why we should commemorate Walter Pater

By Matthew Beaumont Pater's most celebrated and controversial book, Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873) is about the distant past, superficially at least, and therefore risked seeming irrelevant even in his own time. It could not however have inspired a generation of undergraduates, including Oscar Wilde, to embrace aestheticism, and a cult of homoeroticism, as his critics claimed, if it had not also been a coded polemic about the present.

Posted on August 4, 2013

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