The book was an insightful study of James' great predecessor, Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Modern art asks itself how it can possibly stand up against the esthetic quality of its great predecessors.

Nor are they variations on the work of great predecessors.

A Tramp Abroad' is a rare book, but it cannot rank with its great predecessor in human charm.

'I have never lived in a place where the past was so alive, and my great predecessors seemed like daily companions.'

It all has to do, he says, with the type of wood and varnish his great Italian predecessors found in Venice.

Our great predecessors would have been ashamed of us: we have squandered the chance to create a city they could only imagine.

His share of the work does not reach the high standard of his great predecessor.

I strive only to follow the example of my great predecessor, Hercules.

During that visit, he repeatedly made references to "the great John Paul" and "my great predecessor".