Vernon Lee

Vernon Lee was the pseudonym of the British writer Violet Paget (14 October 1856 - 13 February 1935). She is remembered today primarily for her supernatural fiction and her work on aesthetics. An early follower of Walter Pater, she wrote over a dozen volumes of essays on art, music, and travel. Her short fiction explored the themes of haunting and possession. The most famous were collected in Hauntings (1890) and her story "Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady" (1895) was first printed in the notorious The Yellow Book.

Vernon Lee was the pseudonym of the British writer Violet Paget (14 October 1856 - 13 February 1935). She is remembered today primarily for her supernatural fiction and her work on aesthetics. An early follower of Walter Pater, she wrote over a dozen volumes of essays on art, music, and travel. Her short fiction explored the themes of haunting and possession. The most famous were collected in Hauntings (1890) and her story "Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady" (1895) was first printed in the notorious The Yellow Book.

The Spirit of Rome, a classical book, was published more than a century ago and has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

"The Beautiful: An Introduction to Psychological Aesthetics" by Vernon Lee is a groundbreaking exploration into the world of aesthetics and the psychology at the back of our perceptions of beauty. Published in the past due nineteenth century, Lee, a pseudonym for British creator and artwork critic Violet Paget, brings a completely unique mixture of philosophy, psychology, and art criticism to dissect the elaborate nature of beauty. The book delves into the subjective and often elusive concept of splendor, attempting to get to the bottom of the psychological processes that influence our aesthetic judgments. Lee demanding situations conventional aesthetic theories and proposes an extra nuanced knowledge that considers person differences and emotional responses to art and splendor. Drawing on insights from psychology, Lee examines the impact of feelings, cultural influences, and personal studies on our notion of beauty. The paintings stands as a pioneering attempt to bridge the gap among aesthetics and psychology, laying the foundation for next explorations into the intersection of artwork and the human thoughts. Lee's prose is each erudite and available, making "The Beautiful" a treasured useful resource for pupils and lovers alike.

A Phantom Lover, a classical book, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Novellesamlingen Hjemsøgelser(1889) består af de fire noveller Amour Dure, Dionea, Oke af Okehurst og En grusom stemme. Alle fire handler om overnaturlige hændelser – spøgelser, besættelser og gudinder – men afspejler også tydeligt Lees viden og interesser inden for kunst, arkitektur og køn. Novellerne er i sig selv eksempler på Lees empatiske æstetikbegreb: De stemningsfulde og detaljerige tekster fremmaner så levende historier at de manifesterer sig som kropslige oplevelser hos læseren – lige fra den snigende rædsels kuldegysninger til afslappet velbehag. Lee har arbejdet bevidst med denne teknik og gør det mesterligt. Bag pseudonymet Vernon Lee gemmer sig den britiske forfatter Violet Page (1856-1935), der var en markant skikkelse blandt europæiske intellektuelle omkring forrige århundredeskifte. Lee levede størstedelen af sit liv i Sydeuropa og var en spektakulær personlighed: En autoritet inden for italiensk renæssancekunst, erklæret feminist og pacifist, klædt i herretøj og en højt respekteret skønlitterær forfatter. Lees forfatterskab omfatter værker inden for kunsthistorie, kunstteori, feminisme, rejselitteratur og skønlitteratur. Blandt andet formulerede Lee på det kunstteoretiske område sammen med sin partner Kit Anstruther-Thomson et yderst fremsynet æstetisk begreb kaldet empatisk æstetik. Lee gik i glemmebogen efter at have mistet indflydelse og anseelse i kølvandet på Første Verdenskrig på grund af sin erklærede pacifisme, men både det empatiske æstetikbegreb, der fokuserer på kropslige oplevelser af kunst, og Lees skønlitteratur har siden 1990erne været genstand for fornyet interesse.

Limbo, and Other Essays; To which is now added Ariadne in Mantua, has been acknowledged as a major work throughout human history, and we have taken precautions to assure its preservation by republishing this book in a modern manner for both present and future generations. This book has been completely retyped, revised, and reformatted. The text is readable and clear because these books are not created from scanned copies.

Penelope Brandling: A Tale of the Welsh coast in the Eighteenth Century, a classical book, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Hauntings; Fantastic Stories has been regarded as significant work throughout human history, and in order to ensure that this work is never lost, we have taken steps to ensure its preservation by republishing this book in a contemporary format for both current and future generations. This entire book has been retyped, redesigned, and reformatted. Since these books are not made from scanned copies, the text is readable and clear.

I entered the church...It struck me suddenly that all this crowd of men and women standing all round, these priests chanting and moving about the altar, were dead... Vernon Lee was a polymath whose copious writings include deeply learned studies of art, music, literature, and history, but also a small but exquisitely crafted group of Gothic tales, most of which first appeared in fin de siècle periodicals including the iconic Yellow Book. In these stories of obsession and possession, transgressive desire reaches out from the past -- through a haunting portrait, a murdered poet's lock of hair, the uncanny voice of a diabolical castrato -- dragging Lee's protagonists to their doom. Among those haunted by Lee's 'spurious ghosts' was Henry James, who praised her 'gruesome, graceful...ingenious tales, full of imagination'. This new edition includes Lee's landmark 1890 collection Hauntings complete, along with six additional tales and the 1880 essay 'Faustus and Helena', in which Lee probes the elusive nature of the supernatural as a 'vital...fluctuating...potent' force that resists definite representation. Aaron Worth's contextual introduction, drawing upon Lee's newly published letters, reassesses her place in the pantheon of the fantastic. 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.

Laurus Nobilis: Chapters on Art and Life (1909) is a collection of essays by Vernon Lee. Published at the height of her career as a leading proponent of Aestheticism and scholar of the Italian Renaissance, Laurus Nobilis: Chapters on Art and Life follows in the footsteps of Walter Pater, a pioneering art historian of Victorian England. A principled feminist and committed pacifist, Lee was virtually blacklisted by critics and publishers following her opposition to the First World War. Through the efforts of dedicated scholars, however, interest in her works has increased over the past several decades, granting her the readership she deserves as a master of literary horror. “It is a plant of noblest utility, averting, as the ancients thought, lightning from the dwellings it surrounded, even as disinterested love for beauty averts from our minds the dangers which fall on the vain and the covetous; and curing many aches and fevers, even as the contemplation of beauty refreshes and invigorates our spirit. Indeed, we seem to be reading a description no longer of the virtues of the bay laurel, but of the virtues of all beautiful sights and sounds, of all beautiful thoughts and emotions.” Although she is more widely known for her stories of supernatural horror, Lee was also a gifted researcher whose knowledge of art history shines in Laurus Nobilis: Chapters on Art and Life. This collection of essays begins with the image of the bay laurel, a symbol of artistic achievement and divine beauty since the days of ancient Greece. Determined to prove that beauty is an aspect of reality separate from truth and goodness, and therefore worthy of its own pursuit in art, Lee looks back on the work of Pater while offering her own arguments in defense of Aestheticism. Lyrical and personal, meditative and instructive, these essays are essential to her reputation as a leading artist and intellectual of her time. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Vernon Lee’s Laurus Nobilis: Chapters on Art and Life is a classic work of art history reimagined for modern readers.

The Countess of Albany (1886) is a biography by Vernon Lee. Published at the height of her career as a leading proponent of Aestheticism and scholar of the Italian Renaissance, The Countess of Albany is a biography of Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern, whose unhappy marriage to Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, often obscured her reputation as an independent and interesting woman in her own right. A principled feminist and committed pacifist, Lee was virtually blacklisted by critics and publishers following her opposition to the First World War. Through the efforts of dedicated scholars, however, interest in her works has increased over the past several decades, granting her the readership she deserves as a master of literary horror. “On the Wednesday after Easter the bride and bridegroom made their solemn entry into Rome; the two travelling carriages of the Prince and of the Princess were drawn by six horses; four gala coaches, carrying the attendants of Charles Edward and of his brother the Cardinal Duke of York, followed behind, and the streets were cleared by four outriders dressed in scarlet with the white Stuart cockade.” Although she is more widely known for her stories of supernatural horror, Lee was also a gifted researcher whose knowledge of Italian history and literary gift collide in The Countess of Albany. This biography is the story of Louise, a German princess who married Charles Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant to the English throne. By the time of their acquaintance, Bonnie Prince Charlie was a man passed his prime, beaten down by years on the run after the failed uprising of 1745. Focusing on her independent spirit and relationship with Count Vittorio Alfieri of Italy, Lee provides invaluable insight on the life of a woman who forged her own path in a world dominated by men. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Vernon Lee’s The Countess of Albany is a classic work of historical biography reimagined for modern readers.

The Spirit of Rome (1906) is a memoir by Vernon Lee. Published at the height of her career as a leading proponent of Aestheticism and scholar of the Italian Renaissance, The Spirit of Rome is a captivating meditation on the author’s experiences in Rome. Raised in the city, she returns as an adult to find it as mysterious and magical as before, a place where any day could offer a chance to lose or discover oneself in history, art, or unrivalled beauty. A principled feminist and committed pacifist, Lee was virtually blacklisted by critics and publishers following her opposition to the First World War. Through the efforts of dedicated scholars, however, interest in her works has increased over the past several decades, granting her the readership she deserves as a master of literary horror. “I was brought up in Rome, from the age of twelve to that of seventeen, but did not return there for many years afterwards. I discovered it anew for myself, while knowing all its sites and its details; discovered, that is to say, its meaning to my thoughts and feelings.” Vernon Lee’s world is one where ghosts and humans walk together, often without taking notice of one another. Although she is more widely known for her stories of supernatural horror, Lee was also a gifted art historian and travel writer. In these diary entries written over the course of a decade, she returns to the city of Rome, where she spent the formative years of her youth. Walking through villas and the Vatican, standing on cobblestone streets or in the hollow expanse of the Pantheon, she discovers herself anew in the same ancient places, filled with the ghosts of lost friends and lovers, of the woman she was long ago. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Vernon Lee’s The Spirit of Rome is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

Hauntings (1890) is a short story collection by Vernon Lee. Published at the height of her career as a leading proponent of Aestheticism and scholar of the Italian Renaissance, Hauntings collects four of her most chilling tales of the supernatural. Employing formal techniques to mimic diary and letter writing, Lee brings her reader face to face with the psychological unease embodied in her characters. A principled feminist and committed pacifist, Lee was virtually blacklisted by critics and publishers following her opposition to the First World War. Through the efforts of dedicated scholars, however, interest in her works has increased over the past several decades, granting her the readership she deserves as a master of literary horror. “They are things of the imagination, born there, bred there, sprung from the strange confused heaps, half-rubbish, half-treasure, which lie in our fancy, heaps of half-faded recollections, of fragmentary vivid impressions, litter of multi-colored tatters, and faded herbs and flowers, whence arises that odor (we all know it), musty and damp, but penetratingly sweet and intoxicatingly heady, which hangs in the air when the ghost has swept through the unopened door, and the flickering flames of candle and fire start up once more after waning.” Vernon Lee’s world is one where ghosts and humans walk together, often without taking notice of one another. In those instances when they do, however, strange and terrible things are likely to occur. The stories in this collection record such fateful encounters: a German academic becomes obsessed with a lady of the Italian Renaissance; a young girl is discovered alone on the Italian coast following a brutal storm; a painter grows uneasy at the resemblance of a subject to one of her distant ancestors; and a composer hears the voice of a famous castrato dead for centuries. Hauntings is a masterful work from the mind of Vernon Lee, one of history’s most terrifying storytellers. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Vernon Lee’s Hauntings is a classic work of supernatural fiction reimagined for modern readers.

This book has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.