From a college window

by A.C. Benson

I have lately come to perceive that the one thing which gives value to any piece of art whether it be book or picture or music is that subtle and evasive thing which is called personality.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction

365 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1906

About the author

Arthur Christopher Benson was an English essayist, poet, author and academic and the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Benson was born on 24 April 1862 at Wellington College, Berkshire. He was one of six children of Edward White Benson (1829-1896; Archbishop of Canterbury 1882–96; the first headmaster of the college) and his wife Mary Sidgwick Benson, sister of the philosopher Henry Sidgwick.

Benson was born into a literary family; his brothers included E.F. Benson, best remembered for his Mapp and Lucia novels, and Robert Hugh Benson, a priest of the Church of England before converting to Roman Catholicism, who wrote many popular novels. Their sister, Margaret Benson, was an artist, author, and amateur Egyptologist.

Reviews

[Stevefk · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a find. I discovered this book of essays from 1906 watching booktube videos. Two gentlemen picked this as one of their top 10 nonfiction books of all-time. I had never heard of it. Now it is one of my nonfiction favorites, as well. Just fantastic writing. I love his brother's (E.F. Benson) stuff (Mapp and Lucia, and many excellent ghost stories), but this book operates at a higher literary level. Thanks Booktube!

[Melbourne Bitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written around 1907. Interesting that they were spelling sat with an 'e' back then. As in "A cat sate on the mat". A collection of essays mostly published previously in the Cornhill Magazine of 1905-6.