PREFACE Xlii 



later, in November, he was seriously turning his atten- 

 tion to another large piece of work the Life of Michel- 

 angelo. 



As a matter of fact, the reception of * Essays Speculative 

 and Suggestive ' was not on the whole so chilling as Symonds 

 imagined when under the depression of the earlier reviews. 

 In private the book produced a marked effect on readers 

 competent to judge, and Symonds received a large number 

 of letters on the subjects he had discussed. Since his death 

 letters have reached me from Australia and America which 

 clearly show that Symonds had touched a very wide and 

 various circle of readers. A second edition was issued in 

 London just before Symonds' death, and from that edition, 

 which had the benefit of his revision, the present edition is 

 reprinted. 



HORATIO F. BROWN. 



Ca' Torresella, Venice. 

 April 1907. 



