Excerpt from The Literary Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds to Which Is Prefixed a Memoir of the Author, Vol. 1 of 2: With Remarks on His Professional Character, Illustrative of His Principles and Practice WE cannot properly judge to what extent the arts of this country are indebted to the labours of Sir Joshua Reynolds, without turning our attention to the state in which he found them at the period when he came to their rescue; and, if we estimate, at the same time, the results of the labours of others, who had pre viously endeavoured to advance or to maintain the art of painting in England, we may be led to consider the nature of the means which they employed in their professional pursuits, and the difference between these and the means employed by Reynolds to for ward his own views of art. It will then be more apparent why those who preceded him have not ef fected more than they have done; and why Sir Joshua himself has been so eminently successful in accom plishing the object which he always contemplated, that of dignifying and extending the art of his country - and in establishing his brilliant reputation on a basis which cannot be shaken. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.