Praeterita is the autobiography of John Ruskin (1819-1900), art critic and social commentator and one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century. An elegy for lost places and people, Praeterita recounts Ruskin's childhood, and his travels across Europe with passion and intimacy.

The major new edition of Ruskin's autobiography since 1908.

Thanks to O'Gorman, the experience of reading Praeterita has achieved luminous transparency, and it is to be hoped that his new, very finely edited edition finds its way on to book shelves and into syllabuses ... O'Gorman's introduction deserves special praise ... The explanatory notes provide essential guidance and clarification, especially for the neophyte reader of Ruskin.