An Anthology of Pre-Raphaelite Writings

By Carolyn Hares-Stryker

Book Overview

Here, for the first time, is a panoramic overview of the most resonant work of the Pre-Raphaelite era in one handy volume. Combining well-known works with previously neglected materials, this ambitious anthology includes writing and art by such figures as the Rosettis, William Morris, John Ruskin, George Meredith, and Algernon Charles Swinburne. Organized chronologically, the book enables the reader to trace the most prominent artists and writers within each decade, revealing how their influence alternatively increased and waned over time and further how their work was received by Victorian critics, by turn friendly, satirical, and hostile. Replete with paintings, first-hand accounts of evens and personalities, and the Pre-Raphaelites' own reflections, in their diaries and letters, on this fertile era, the volume serves as a lyrical recreation of one of the most explosively productive moments in Western cultural history. Carolyn Hares-Stryker's introduction addresses the principles and origins of the movement, describing the social and political events that shaped the Pre-Raphaelites and the themes to which they returned again and again: social reform, religion, and its role in contemporary life, the allure of the past, and the fragility of utopia.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814735533
• ISBN13: 9780814735534
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: NYU Press
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Great Reference

We used this book as a resource for one of my English classes in college. I liked it because it contained a wide selection of Pre-Raphaelite poems and other selections, as well as included a few plates of their distinctive artwork as well. This is a great resource if you are interested primarily in the writing style of this movement, but perhaps consider another selection if you are interested more in the paintings.