What do you think?
Rate this book
The Spirit of Rome
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.
136 pages, Paperback
First published May 12, 2012
9 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Vernon Lee
453 books123 followersViolet Paget, known by her pen name Vernon Lee, 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, poetry and contributed to The Yellow Book. An engaged feminist, she always dressed à la garçonne, and was a member of the Union of democratic control.
Her literary works explored the themes of haunting and possession. The English writer and translator, Montague Summers described Vernon Lee as "the greatest [...] of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction."
She was responsible for introducing the concept of empathy (Einfühling) into the English language. Empathy was a key concept in Lee's psychological aesthetics which she developed on the basis of prior work by Theodor Lipps. Her response to aesthetics interpreted art as a mental and corporeal experience. This was a significant contribution to the philosophy of art which has been largely neglected.
"The Lie of the Land", in the voume "Limbo, and other Essays", has been one of the most influential essays on landscaping.
Additionally she wrote, along with her friend and colleague Henry James, critically about the relationship between the writer and his/her audience pioneering the concept of criticism and expanding the idea of critical assessment among all the arts as relating to an audience's (or her personal) response. She was a strong, though vexed, proponent of the Aesthetic movement, and after a lengthy written correspondence met the movement's effective leader, Walter Pater, in England in 1881, just after encountering his famous disciple Oscar Wilde. Her interpretation of the movement called for social action, setting her apart from both Wilde and Pater.
Her literary works explored the themes of haunting and possession. The English writer and translator, Montague Summers described Vernon Lee as "the greatest [...] of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction."
She was responsible for introducing the concept of empathy (Einfühling) into the English language. Empathy was a key concept in Lee's psychological aesthetics which she developed on the basis of prior work by Theodor Lipps. Her response to aesthetics interpreted art as a mental and corporeal experience. This was a significant contribution to the philosophy of art which has been largely neglected.
"The Lie of the Land", in the voume "Limbo, and other Essays", has been one of the most influential essays on landscaping.
Additionally she wrote, along with her friend and colleague Henry James, critically about the relationship between the writer and his/her audience pioneering the concept of criticism and expanding the idea of critical assessment among all the arts as relating to an audience's (or her personal) response. She was a strong, though vexed, proponent of the Aesthetic movement, and after a lengthy written correspondence met the movement's effective leader, Walter Pater, in England in 1881, just after encountering his famous disciple Oscar Wilde. Her interpretation of the movement called for social action, setting her apart from both Wilde and Pater.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 4, 2019
Los diarios de las estancias de Vernon Lee en Roma, a pesar de los muchos años que vivió allí, es una prueba de asombro que le produce la infinita exploración de la ciudad. Lee no busca el detalle pintoresco ni el tópico monumental. De hecho no ahorra el comentario crítico sobre la decadencia y el descuido de una ciudad miserable y con algo de baratija. Es muy importante que la autora no entiende Roma sin relacionarla con los vacíos interiores (en las iglesias, los patios), las excavaciones y la desolación de las afueras, pero sobre todo sin la conexión con la naturaleza y con los valles y pueblos cercanos, con los que conforma un sistema conectado por el río y con el límite del Mediterráneo.
October 28, 2021
Hiper ultra pedante, enrevesado y caótico.
En el lado positivo, he descubierto a su autora que era todo un personaje digno caso de estudio
En el lado positivo, he descubierto a su autora que era todo un personaje digno caso de estudio
November 29, 2020
"Siento a menudo que si no viviera en toda esta imagen pintoresca, los horrores del pasado, la vacuidad del presente, se lo llevarían a uno, no sé a dónde. Más que nunca he tenido esta vez la sensación de horror ante la barbarie de Roma, de que la civilización que acampa en toda esta basura humana, no hace nada por salir de ella. Sensación de horror ante esta absorbente Italia. ¡Y el placer que proporciona! (...) Somos desgraciadas criaturas en tránsito, conmoviéndonos por estas cosas, por este montón de polvo del tiempo, y apaciguamos el espíritu con la vista de todo este cúmulo de edades."
Amar una ciudad no es solo amar la belleza de sus ruinas, también la fealdad que habita en sus rincones, los paisajes desérticos de las afueras, los colores de esa pared exterior de un templo en el que nadie más se fija. Vernon Lee lo describe todo con las palabras exactas, con la precisión de un haiku.
Amar una ciudad no es solo amar la belleza de sus ruinas, también la fealdad que habita en sus rincones, los paisajes desérticos de las afueras, los colores de esa pared exterior de un templo en el que nadie más se fija. Vernon Lee lo describe todo con las palabras exactas, con la precisión de un haiku.
October 16, 2019
Preciosas y caóticas descripciones de Roma y sus alrededores en Primavera a lo largo de varios años, sin más objetivo que el de transmitir lo que la ciudad desprende, más allá de lo que quiere mostrar.
February 1, 2016
A graphomanic bucket of words. Thanks for improving my vocabulary in adjectives.
February 23, 2022
Entertaining listening 🔰😀
Another will written travel adventure novel by Vernon Lee about Rome and the surroundings. Not what I was expecting but it took me back 50 years when the U.S.Navy took a young man 🚹 too the Meditation, Italy, France, Spain, and a few other places. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to 👍novels 🔰🏡⛪🗻🏦 2022
Another will written travel adventure novel by Vernon Lee about Rome and the surroundings. Not what I was expecting but it took me back 50 years when the U.S.Navy took a young man 🚹 too the Meditation, Italy, France, Spain, and a few other places. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to 👍novels 🔰🏡⛪🗻🏦 2022
October 5, 2015
The ideal guide to Rome.
A splendid memoir of the changing variety that characterized the Eternal City at the beginning of the 20th century. A rare glimpse behind the many ironies of Rome and its inhabitants. In her usual Byzantine style Vernon Lee tells of her journeys, her epiphanies and her reflections after observing Rome for fifteen years.
A splendid memoir of the changing variety that characterized the Eternal City at the beginning of the 20th century. A rare glimpse behind the many ironies of Rome and its inhabitants. In her usual Byzantine style Vernon Lee tells of her journeys, her epiphanies and her reflections after observing Rome for fifteen years.
Read
October 28, 2020Me he sentido como si estuviera espiando la intimidad de la autora. Roma interiorizada.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews