praeteritus - past - disregarded, neglected, omitted
From the Introduction to PRAETERITA by Tim Hilton
Early in 1885John Ruskin sat down to write his autobiography Praeterita (the title 'means merely past things', he told his friend Kate Greenaway). The art critic was at Brantwood, his home at the side of Lake Coniston. In its study, whose windows gave lovely views over meadow, water and Lancashire mountains, were the diaries Ruskin had kept since 1835. There were some thirty of these jhournals. On other Brantwood shelved were hundreds of packets of correspondence. Many of them contained family letters, the earliest from the beginning of the nineteenth century. There were also letters from Ruskin's friends and contemporaries, men and women he had know in a long life as writer, teacher and social reformer.
In this study Ruskin could refer to the dozens of his own books, modestly placed on the bottom shelves. Some had not been opened for decades; but there they were, filed, available to their author. Brantwood also contained many works of art, more than the house could easily hold. Ruskin often rearranged his paintings, drawings and other artefacts. He liked them to make patterns that would remind him of his past and people he had loved. All in all, the ageing professor - Rusking was in his mid-sixties when Praeterita was on his mind - was well placed to relate the history of his life.
In this study Ruskin could refer to the dozens of his own books, modestly placed on the bottom shelves. Some had not been opened for decades; but there they were, filed, available to their author. Brantwood also contained many works of art, more than the house could easily hold. Ruskin often rearranged his paintings, drawings and other artefacts. He liked them to make patterns that would remind him of his past and people he had loved. All in all, the ageing professor - Rusking was in his mid-sixties when Praeterita was on his mind - was well placed to relate the history of his life.
