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Most recent discussions of reasons in art criticism focus on reasons that justify beliefs about the value of artworks. Reviving a long-neglected suggestion from Paul Ziff, I argue that we should focus instead on art-critical reasons that justify actions-namely, particular ways of engaging with artworks. I argue that a focus on practical rather than theoretical reasons yields an understanding of criticism that better fits with our intuitions about the value of reading art criticism, and which makes room for a nuanced distinction between criticism that aims at universality and criticism that is resolutely personal. 1 1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Society for Aesthetics annual meeting in Savannah, GA in November, 2015; I am grateful to Karen Gover for her helpful commentary on the paper, and to the audience for their probing questions-all of which improved the paper tremendously. Special thanks also go to

This 1996 book offers a fascinating investigation into the lives and careers of the British in eighteenth-century Russia and, more specifically, into the development of a vibrant British community in St Petersburg during the city's first century of existence as the new capital of an ever-expanding Russian empire. Based on an extremely wide range of primary sources from Britain and Russia, the book concentrates on the activities of the British within various fields such as commerce, the navy, the medical profession, science and technology, and the arts and ends with a broad survey of travellers and of travel literature, much of which is nowadays completely unknown. Also included are many attractive and unusual illustrations which help to demonstrate the variety and character of Russia's British community.

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