From Self to Shelf is a marvellously rich and various exploration of the interplay between biographical and aesthetic selves, ranging from the great self-inventions of the Romantic poets, through the complexities of revelation and impersonality that characterise twentieth century art, and down to the knowing dramas of reticence and display that distinguish the work of so many leading contemporaries. It includes essays in literary criticism, chapters in the history of painting and of music, biographical accounts, and studies in popular culture, as well as reflections by eminent practitioners. The editors have assembled an outstanding group of contributors, with names both new and familiar, to produce a volume at once absorbing and surprising, warmly alive to the human stories it tells while remaining theoretically up-to-date, and creating a book that is altogether as engaging and thought-provoking as the masterpieces it illuminates. Seamus Perry. Fellow and Tutor in English, Balliol College, Oxford.