Wnętrze książki świeże, w świetnym stanie, na pierwszej stronie okładki lekkie wgniecenie, z tyłu na rogu zdarta pokrywająca sam róg okładki folia (bez naddarcia okładki).

• 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.

New to this edition:

• Text of Pater's first edition.
• Introduction by Matthew Beaumont.
• Up-to-date bibliography.
• Comprehensive Explanatory Notes by Matthew Beaumont.
• Glossary of Names.
• 'art comes to you professing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass, and simply for those moments' sake'

In Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873), a diffident Oxford don produced an audacious and incalculably influential defence of aestheticism. Through his highly idiosyncratic readings of some of the finest paintings, sculptures, and poems of the French and Italian Renaissance, Pater redefined the practice of criticism as an impressionistic, almost erotic exploration of the critic's aesthetic responses. At the same time, reclaiming the Hellenism that he saw as the most characteristic aspect of the Renaissance, he implicitly celebrated homoerotic friendship.

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, recapturing its initial impact, and the Introduction celebrates its doomed attempt to stand out against the processes of industrialization. 

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range 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, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Readership: Readers of art history, art criticism, students of English Literature, history of art, history, early modernism, Victorian thinkers, decadence, fin de siècle, aestheticism.