Excerpt from Sir Joshua Reynolds and His Works: Gleanings From His Diary, Unpublished Manuscripts, and From Other Sources<br><br>I should be extremely sorry to publish any thing that could, in the smallest degree, detract from the reputation of so eminent I. Man; but I believe these private notes, jotted down in his sketch book, merely to assist his memory, and without any care or nicety of expression, will be read with interest - showing, as they do, the powers of observation, and the working of his mind, at so early a period of his life, and the lasting effect which the sight of the great master-pieces of Venetian coloring had upon him.<br><br>With this view, I trust the following pages will not be devoid of a certain degree of interest; and I am further encouraged to make them public by the advice and approbation of persons best qualified to judge. The author of The Stones of Venice, after a perusal of the ms., said, Publish them, by all means; the private notes of Reynolds are most precious.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>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.