"Præterita": souvenirs de jeunesse

In this intimate memoir, the aging writer peers back at the tangled streets and wild landscapes of his youth, tracing a path from almond blossoms at Herne Hill to the mist‑kissed banks of the River Tay. Each chapter reads like a quiet sketch, cataloguing people, schools, and family moments that left an imprint on a mind attuned to beauty for beauty’s sake. The narrative is suffused with a lingering struggle against fragile health that periodically stole his concentration, lending a raw, unpolished edge to the recollections.

As the manuscript remained unfinished, the fragments feel like diary entries left open on a desk, inviting listeners to share moments of wonder and doubt. The translation preserves his plain yet lyrical tone, letting the ear hear the same reverence for a blooming almond tree or a cathedral choir that once animated his imagination. As a window onto the formative years that later fueled his celebrated essays on art and society, the work offers a rare, unvarnished glimpse of the mind that championed nature’s beauty above all else.