Ruskin, John. Praeterita. Beinecke Library, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. Three diaries, 12 x 18, 14 x 18.5, and 13.5 x 18 cm, respectively, excluding the modern bindings; plus three folio volumes (now unbound, although still separately boxed), consisting of holograph manuscript on loose sheets of foolscap, along with galleys and page proofs mounted on foolscap.
		This manuscript represents the larger portion of the extant manuscript of Praeterita (stray holograph sheets and marked proofs are held by the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; and a diary notebook [15 July 1885–11 May 1887] containing notes on the ongoing composition of Praeterita is held by the Ruskin Library, Lancaster University). The Beinecke manuscript was donated to Yale University Library along with other Ruskin manuscripts by <Charles Goodspeed> following his disastrous house fire. Although Goodspeed for some time believed the Praeterita manuscript to have been totally destroyed, the damage appears to have been minimal.
	Diaries.--The original diary pages of the second and third volumes may have been trimmed slightly (the first volume retaining its original marbeling on the edges), and all three volumes have been rebound in black cloth-covered boards. Presumably, these alterations were made by Goodspeed, whose bookplates are pasted on the inside covers, and carried out after his fire to remove scorched edges and original covers. All three diaries retain original marbled endpapers, which show possible water damage and other distress, but there is no evidence that the fire or subsequent treatment sacrificed any of Ruskin's text.
	Pagination (whether entered by hand or mechanically) was entered on rectos only, versos left unnumbered and usually free of text, except for occasional brief notes. Volume 1: 3 stiff endleaves (2 with brief inscription and notes) + 180 text leaves (numbered by Ruskin 1 through 180, with p. 164 erroneously given twice, p. 179 uniquely entered on a verso, and p. 180 entered on a stiff endleaf) + 2 stiff endleaves.
	In the first volume, the second endleaf (following the first, marbled endleaf) carries an inscription: "To Sorella / St George's day, 1887 / John Ruskin."
	Ruskin wrote the text of the autobiography in successive but relatively brief daily installments, following daily diary entries proper.
	Folio volumes.--The folio volumes were originally compiled and arranged by Alexander Wedderburn, whose holograph docketing appears in the manuscript. Presumably, Wedderburn bound the volumes in red buckram like the other Ruskin manuscripts, but these bindings have been removed and are apparently lost. The now loose sheets show water damage, almost certainly as a result of the Goodspeed fire since some galleys show water stains that have bled through to the sheets on which they are mounted. The edges of the holograph sheets and of the proofs and/or their mounting sheets are charred, although only very occasionally deeply enough to obliterate text. The charred edges have been pressed between rice paper for preservation.
	From the folio manuscript itself, it is not possible to determine whether any portion may have been totally destroyed in the Goodspeed fire. Some accounting might be based on a comparison of the present manuscript with Wedderburn’s description of it at the time of binding. This description, which is included in Folio 1, presents a more detailed description than the one ultimately printed in the Library Edition. I have not carried out this comparison.