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This file includes: Arata Pentelici (lectures on the elemens of sculpture), Ariadne Florentina (lectures on wood and metal engraving, The Ethics of the Dust (lectures to housewives on the elements of crystallization), Giotto and His Works in Padua, Harbors of Engalnd, Hortus Incusus (messsages from the wood to the garden), A Joy Forever and Its Price on the Market, The King of the Golden River, Lectures on Architecture and Painting, Lectures on Art, Lectures on Landscape, Love's Meinie (letures on Greek and English birs), Mornings in Florence, on the Old Road, Our Fathers Have Told Us, The Pleasures of Engalnd, The Poetry of Architecture, Proserpina (studies of wayside flowers), The Queen of the Air (study of Greek myths of cloud and storm), Sesame and Lilies, The Stones of Venice, Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century, The Two Paths, and Val D'Arno.
According to Wikipedia: "John Ruskin (8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) was a British art critic and social thinker, also remembered as an author, poet and artist. His essays on art and architecture were extremely influential in the Victorian and Edwardian eras... Ruskin's influence extends far beyond the field of art history. The author Leo Tolstoy described him as, "one of those rare men who think with their heart." Marcel Proust was a Ruskin enthusiast and helped translate his works into French. Mahatma Gandhi quoted Ruskin's Unto this last frequently, and even translated the work into Gujarati, calling it Sarvodaya. He spoke often of the influence Ruskin had on his philosophy. Ruskin's views also attracted Oscar Wilde's imagination in the late 19th century."
... Read more

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This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Oogie Finds Love is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Berkeley Livingston is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Berkeley Livingston then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Art; Decorative arts; Decoration and ornament; ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Architecture / History / General; Architecture / Decoration ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

rip off
The kessinger edition of this book is a rip off!!! do not buy it!!!
i received a copy in which the margins on the pages were 2 inches all around and the text was so small.everything seemed to be copied with a fax machine, so there was lots of tiny black dots all over the pages.the images are so unclear.they were black and white with no grayscales and it was so hard to make out what the images were.i returned this book for a refund.
buy the dover edition instead.its practically the same text except the text fills up the whole page and the pictures are clear. its also less than half the price of the kessinger edition.

Be forewarned:Unashamed moralizing and aesthetic certainty
If you are looking for a "practical guide to the
structures and tools" of architecture, this is NOT
your book nor your guide.
For John Ruskin is an art critic, classicist, and
moralizing aesthetic prophet.He is not an "art for art's
sake" temporizer or relativist.He not only knows what
HE believes...but he believes he knows what YOU should
believe too.If that makes you uncomfortable or makes
you feel hampered, you might want to pass him by until
you feel you can accommodate the "insult" and "restrictions"
on your "free will choices."Otherwise, there is much of
beauty, wonder, and insight to be gained in these pages.
Ruskin's point of view is that of a classical Platonist
mixed with the moralizing tenor of an exhorting (but not
shrilly so) prophet toward beauty, Truth, and clarity of
vision...and moral purpose in Art. He also has a wondrous
prose style which is both clear, compelling, and entrancing.
This edition published by Dover as a reprint is of the
second edition of the work from 1880.It also includes
14 plates of drawings which Ruskin did to illustrate the
points which he makes in the text.
Along the way, Ruskin includes shortened Aphorisms
in the margin which restate the bold face print points
which he is making in the text.In Chapter 2, titled
"The Lamp of Truth," Ruskin stands forth most forcefully
and dynamically (and perhaps to the "modern," most
tendentiously) as the classical Platonic moralizer
and aesthetic apostle/prophet/priest.Though raised
a strict Protestant, Ruskin rebelled and left Christianity
for a classical Paganism based on beauty, Truth, and clarity.
Needless to say, this more than tended to alienate him
and isolate him from the mercenary, industrialized
Victorian world which was chugging along outside his
hermetically sealed temple dedicated to Truth, Beauty,
Goodness, and Clarity.Mercantilism and "practical
progress" don't exactly exalt those four princples as
the means or the goals whereby to make money and become
successful in the eyes of the world or popular opinion.
But if you want to read about Truth and Beauty and
read it through the eyes and soul of a lover of those
qualities -- and read it expressed in most beautiful
prose and style (which is both poetic and powerful),
then Ruskin and this work are clearly the choices you
should make.
This excerpt from Ruskin tied to Aphorism 29 {"The
earth is an entail, not a possession.") clearly shows
that Ruskin's vision and prophetic power extend beyond
the merely practical realm of architecture into an
all-encompassing total vision of responsibility and
reverence:"The idea of self-denial for the sake of
posterity, of practising present economy for the sake of
debtors yet unborn, of planting forests that our
descendants may live under their shade, or of raising
cities for future nations to inhabit, never, I suppose,
efficiently takes place among publicly recognized motives
of exertion.Yet these are not the less our duties; nor
is our part fitly sustained upon the earth, unless the
range of our intended and deliberate usefulness include,
not only the companions, but the successors, of our
pilgrimage.God has lent us the earth for our life; it
is a great entail.It belongs as much to those who are
to come after us, and whose names are already written in
the book of creation, as to us, and we have no right, by
any thing that we do or neglect, to involve them in
unnecessary penalties., or deprive them of benefits which
it was in our power to bequeath."
Read...enjoy...benefit...

outdated
I found that tying in human traits to different styles of architecture was not interesting at all. There is no discussion of building techniques or the practical side of architecture.This would be more for the artist that is trying to project different human feelings into the structure.If you are looking for a techincal guide to architecture this is not it.

Architecture's Most Influential Written Work
This book is the origin of virtually every theory held throughout the history of architecture. The arts and crafts movement, Frank Lloyd Wright's organicism, and Corbusier's New Architecture are just a few examples of prominent theories whose foundations lie within the pages of this book.In this book, Ruskin prescribes the essential elements required to make timeless, meaningful architecture. This manifesto is a must for any student interested in the practice and study of architecture.

Wonderful architectural moralism
Ruskin is a master in morality and architecture. This combination, which is very nineteenth-century-like, mixes Ruskin with a wonderful mastery of the English language. The Seven Lamps is a must-read for all you folks who have not yetstudied architecture in all its facets. ... Read more

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For Ruskin (1819-1900), the scrutiny of art ensures moral, social and religious comprehension of humanity's relationship to the world. This selection draws on Modern Painters (1843 - 1860) and The Stones of Venice (1851-1853) to present Ruskin's conception of art and the edification it works on human understanding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Art and Insight...
I personally came to a knowledge, reading, and
study of John Ruskin late -- only during this
past half year.Though I had come across quotes
attributed to him on various subjects, and though
I had heard mentions of him on various cultural
programs, still nothing enticed me or intrigued
me enough to follow up -- until I came upon
two quotes from him in two very provocative sources.
The first source was in the ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA
(1994)in an article on "Dante Alighieri." The quote
reads:"Each age has admired Dante for different
reasons.His contemporaries and immediate successors
dwelt on his rhetorical skill and ethical content;
the early 19th century admired his "Gothic" grandeur;
modern critics have delighted in the sharpness and
variety of his imagery and the subtlety with which he
mingles suggestive allegory with realism.* * *
Ruskin, speaking surely not for his own time alone,
wrote, 'I think the central man of all the world,
as representing IN PERFECT BALANCE the imaginative,
moral, and intellectual faculties, all at their
highest, is Dante.'"
The other quote is found in Jane Ellen Harrison's
wondrous and elegant presentation of Greek myth
and ritual study -- PROLEGOMENA TO THE STUDY OF
GREEK RELIGION. 1903/1908/1922; rpt. Princeton
Univ. Press, 1991; Mythos Books.That quote from
the beginning of Chapter 1 says: "In characterizing
the genius of the Greeks, Mr. Ruskin says: 'there
is no dread in their hearts; pensiveness, amazement,
often deepest grief and desolation, but terror never.
Everlasting calm in the presence of all Fate, and
joy such as they might win, not indeed from perfect
beauty, but from beauty at perfect rest."
This Everyman edition of Ruskin's SELECTED WRITINGS
is also a must-have for one's personal library.
There are wonderful footnotes and notes in the back,
as well as a very helpful chronology.There are
also extremely insightful and helpful editorial

comments and segues within the text itself which
highlight and explain Ruskin's insights and evolving
creativity.Ruskin's writings are so extensive and
fill so many volumes, that though there may be a
few overlaps of same excerpts in various collections,
they are usually at a minimum.That is why I was
glad to purchase several different collections of
his writings -- and so far, there is more than
enough new material in each one to have made the
purchases valuable.
One of the quotes which I especially like from this
volume is this one:
"For the artist who sincerely chooses the
noblest subject will also choose chiefly to
represent what makes that subject noble,
namely, the various heroism or other noble
emotions of the persons represented.If,
instead of this, the artist seeks only to make
his picture agreeable by the composition of its
masses and colours, or by any other merely
pictorial merit, as fine drawing of limbs, it
is evident, not only that any other subject
would have answered his purpose as well, but that
he is unfit to approach the subject he has chosen,
because he cannot enter into its deepest meaning,
and therefore cannot in reality have chosen it
for that meaning."[from MODERN PAINTERS III;
p.100 in Everyman]

Travesty
This selection of Ruskin's writings fails to convey much about the passion and poetry of the man and his work. For an excellent Ruskin anthology, stick with Rosenberg's The Genius of John Ruskin.

The selections in this book miss the point completely
Althought the editor has done a fine job of selecting sections of prose writing, he has failed to include anything that may give a glimpse into the thoughts and contemplations of John Ruskin. The overall effect is that of apolitically correct tippy-toe around beautifully written passages that, inlight of Ruskin's depth, say nothing at all and would thouroughly havedisipointed Ruskin himself. ... Read more

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This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. The Genera of Phyllomedusine Frogs (Anura Hylidae) is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by William E. Duellman is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of William E. Duellman then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ruskin Today
Ruskin in his youth saw things with a clarity of perception which was almost unprecedented. In addition he was a poet: he had the gift of transmitting what he saw - in art, architecture, society, and nature - with a spontaneous eloquence which enslaved, alike, writers from Wordsworth to Proust and reformers from Tolstoy to Bernard Shaw.

Today Ruskin is practically unknown. His tendency to preach, his bouts of mental chaos, and the very fluency of his rhetoric have killed his appeal. Few writers have ever suffered such a reversal.

Sir Kenneth Clark's new anthology of 'the best of Ruskin', by modern standards, is perfectly designed to reintroduce this fascinating and complex figure. Extracts from his writings are grouped by subjects with separate introductions, and Ruskin's own shrewd comments on himself are preceded by a note on his life and the pathetic story of his infantile relations with women.
--- from book's back cover ... Read more

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Focusing on the formative influence of the works of John Ruskin in defining and developing cultural tourism, this book describes and assesses their effects on the ‘tourist gaze’ (‘where to go and what to see’, and how to see it) as directed at landscape, scenery, architecture and townscape, from the early Victorian period onwards. ... Read more

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From Preface:

"The work now laid before the public originated in indignation at the shallow and false criticism of the periodicals of the day on the works of the great living artist to whom it principally refers. It was intended to be a short pamphlet, reprobating the matter and style of those critiques, and pointing out their perilous tendency, as guides of public feeling. But, as point after point presented itself for demonstration, I found myself compelled to amplify what was at first a letter to the Editor of a Review, into something very like a treatise on art, to which I was obliged to give the more consistency and completeness, because it advocated opinions which, to the ordinary connoisseur, will sound heretical. I now scarcely know whether I should announce it is an Essay on Landscape Painting, and apologize for its frequent reference to the works of a particular master; or, announcing it as a critique on particular works, apologize for its lengthy discussion of general principles. But of whatever character the work may be considered, the motives which led me to undertake it must not be mistaken. No zeal for the reputation of any individual, no personal feeling of any kind, has the slightest weight or influence with me. The reputation of the great artist to whose works I have chiefly referred, is established on too legitimate grounds among all whose admiration is honorable, to be in any way affected by the ignorant sarcasms of pretension and affectation. But when public taste seems plunging deeper and deeper into degradation day by day, and when the press universally exerts such power as it possesses to direct the feeling of the nation more completely to all that is theatrical, affected, and false in art; while it vents its ribald buffooneries on the most exalted truth, and the highest ideal of landscape, that this or any other age has ever witnessed, it becomes the imperative duty of all who have any perception or- knowledge of what is really great in art, and any desire for its advancement in England, to come fearlessly forward, regardless of such individual interests as are likely to be injured by the knowledge of what is good and right, to declare and demonstrate, wherever they exist, the essence and the authority of the Beautiful and the True.

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a selection from the PREFACE:

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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John Ruskin, Victorian England's greatest writer on art and literature, believed himself to be an adopted son of Venice, and his feelings for this beautiful, melancholy city are nowhere better expressed than in The Stones of Venice, a collection of essays first published between 1851 and 1853. This abridged edition, which contains Ruskin's famous essay "The Nature of Gothic," captures the essence of his masterpiece, offering readers a marvelously descriptive and discursive tour of the glorious city of Venice before it was transformed by postwar restoration. As Ruskin wrote on his second visit to Venice in 1841, "Thank God I am here, it is a Paradise of Cities." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Underneath it All Lies a Call to Socialism
This edition of STONES OF VENICE is a lamentably shortened version of the original. Yet is still contains enough of that to provide a clear clue why Socialism has as powerful attraction as it does for the upper class elite as it did back in Ruskin's day.

In The Stones of Venice, John Ruskin creates a parallel between the Gothic style of architecture and the often tangled mixture of various pairs of discrete elements: the architect's mind and the social milieu, the worker's skill and the worker's trade guild, and the need for precision in stone cutting and a need not to overly focus on that precision."The Nature of Gothic" is a chapter from that book in which he considers the current state of Gothic architecture: "I shall endeavor to give the reader in this chapter an idea...of the true nature of Gothic architecture, properly so-called; not of that of Venice only, but of universal Gothic."He intends to inform the reader just how "far Venetian architecture reached the universal or perfect type of Gothic, and how far it either fell short of it or assumed foreign and independent forms."

All buildings that are termed Gothic have an essence that Ruskin terms Gothicness, a concept whose abstractness renders a precise definition difficult.When people refer to this essence they often mention traits like gargoyles, pointed arches, and vaulted roofs.Ruskin is quick to add that it is misleading to consider them in isolation.It is further misleading when, even lumping them together, one fails to account for the spirit in which they were both planned and built.Ruskin suggests that it is only when one considers the external forms (arches, roofs, gargoyles) in a delicate union with the internal forms (the mindset of the builder, the social milieu of the age) that one may only then have a right to call that structure Gothic.

Ruskin writes that for a building to be rightfully called Gothic, that edifice must have a morally centered symmetry of six traits: Savageness, Changefulness, Naturalism, Grotesqueness, Rigidity, and Redundance.

Savageness: Ruskin counters the prevailing stereotype of Gothic as a reference to all that is barbaric or savage.The term, in his opinion, has unfortunately been applied derogatorily to all buildings that have "exhibited a degree of sternness and rudeness, which in contradistinction to the character of Southern and Eastern nations, appeared like a perpetual reflection of the contrast between the Goth and the Roman in their first encounter."It is further unfortunate that the architecture of fallen Rome "became the model for the imitation of civilized Europe."Ruskin is dismayed at the revival of Gothic architecture, a trend based more on the style rather than the substance of the original Gothic builders of the Roman Empire.The style of savageness that Ruskin so admires in the ancient Gothic buildings was based on the paradox that the obvious perfection of an object lies in the less obvious imperfection of any of its constituent parts.He draws an analogy between the perfection of a building's lines and the perfection of its builder.The former seems more nearly perfect because of the clarity and straightness of its lines.The latter also seems perfect but only because he has sacrificed his humanity to achieve the mindless ability to draw lines and angles.From this analogy, Ruskin extrapolates that the man can be a tool or the tool a man but one cannot have both.It is the very imperfection of man that makes his struggle to achieve perfection so glorious.As a further consequence, he anathematizes brute machines which accelerate the de-evolution of thinking man to soulless tool. When Ruskin urges his readers to look proudly about them at the clarity and precision of the things which they believe stamp England with immortal beauty, he counters with "Alas! If read rightly these perfections are signs of slavery in our England a thousand times more bitter and more degrading than that of the scourged African or helot Greek."When he urges these same readers to "gaze upon the old cathedral front where you have smiled so often at the fantastic ignorance of the old sculptors," Ruskin admonishes them not to mock these fronts, "For they are the signs of the life and liberty of every workman who struck the stone."Thus the savageness of Gothic architecture is more a virtue than a vice.

Changefulness: Ruskin provides "variety" as synonymous with "changefulness."If a worker is free to be imperfect, then it follows that it would be illogical and counterproductive to assume that the output of the imperfect worker must be perfection itself.Though Ruskin acknowledges that the English love order, it does not follow that "love of order is love of art."He continues by noting that "love of order has no more to do with our right enjoyment of architecture or painting than love of punctuality with the appreciation of an opera."The knowledgeable lover of Gothic art sees that the inner beauty of that art lies precisely in its "restlessness of the dreaming mind that wanders hither and thither among the niches and flickers feverishly around the pinnacles and frets and fades in labyrinthine knots and shadows along wall and roof."

Naturalism: Ruskin defines the term as "the love of natural objects for their own sake."It follows that the artist/builder has the obligation "to represent them frankly, unconstrained by artistical laws."As noted previously, most workmen can create the fact of a piece or the art of that piece but only the rarest and most gifted can do both.Ruskin does not suggest that this tri-part division is immutable.In fact, he adds that all three gently merge into imperceptible gradations.When any building is visibly and horrendously flawed both in concept and construction, "we are apt to find fault with the class of workmen, instead of finding fault with the particular abuse which has perverted their action."The original Gothic builders of antiquity were in the group that could do both, but in their case this group was more numerous than in the other two combined.In Ruskin's day, the ratio has reversed itself, with the ones who could do both in the vanishingly small minority.

Grotesqueness:Ruskin assumes that his readers will have no difficulty in connecting this term with "the tendency to delight in fantastic and ludicrous, as well as in sublime, images."

Rigidity: For Ruskin, rigidity implies not mere stability but active rigidity.Stiffness in movement is a desired trait, the purpose of which is to heighten specific qualities, such as presenting "the fiercest lightning forked rather than curved, and the stoutest oak-branch angular rather than bending."Buildings of the ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations lacked rigidity, with their stones "passively incumbent on another."But Gothic edifices possessed sufficient rigidity analogous "to the bones of a limb or fibers of a tree."Further, ornaments of the former seem to have been merely "stamped with a seal," while those of the latter "stand out in prickly independence and frosty fortitude."Ruskin connects the freezing temperatures of northern Europe to the understandable if subconscious desire on the part of the northern builders to imbue their creations with the mark of the icicle.Further, such cold climes force the builders to use materials of the roughest sort, "compelling the workman to seek for vigor of effect, rather than refinement of texture or accuracy of form."From this, he concludes that it is precisely here that accounts for the stark architectural differences between the low temperatures of the north and the milder temperatures of the south.Ruskin warns the reader that "the best Gothic building is not that which is most Gothic."One cannot suffer from an excess of savagery, of changefulness, of naturalism, or even of grotesqueness, but one can surely suffer from a plethora of rigidity.He compares an oversupply of rigidity to an excessive application of Puritanism.A little bit of both goes a long way.

Redundance:Ruskin calls redundance the least essential of the group.A building is beautiful precisely because its beauty relies "almost exclusively on loveliness of simple design and grace of uninvolved proportion."Less, he implies, is more.Humility, rather than braggadocio of design, is key.

John Ruskin's relation to art was not limited to one who merely loved art though he did so passionately.He saw it as his bounden duty in life to proselytize and to moralize so as to convince others of the validity of his vision that life, art, and morality were commingled in an inexorable bear hug from which one could never disengage.Lying discretely behind this messianic impulse to convert was his Puritan-induced sense of reality.All of art had to conform to a passionate fidelity of external reality to internalized art.In "The Nature of Gothic," Ruskin considers how reality impacts on the creation of and the perception of architecture.It was never enough for Ruskin to look at any aspect of art as "good" or "bad" or even "worthwhile."For him, art could not exist independently of that which gave it birth--the mindset of the builder, the milieu behind the builder, the often tangled web of relationships that propped up or destabilized the worker to his trade guild, or even the geography which acted as an unobtrusive canvas for the art and its artist.Out of all the arts of which man could produce it was architecture that most readily permitted the builder to make an immortal statement less about the artifact and more about himself.

The general thrust of "The Nature of Gothic" is to justify the existence of medieval Gothic architects as those who were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of restlessness, motivation, imperfection, yet endlessly creative for all that.By contrast, this ennobling spirit of brash creativity had slowly fizzled away until by his own century Gothic architecture was no more than a pale reflection of halcyon years.There were various targets for him to point fingers of blame, the most prominent being what he deemed the soul-destroying power of the Mighty Machine of industrialism.By 1851, Ruskin was well on his way to accepting the Socialist doctrines then spreading throughout Europe.Almost certainly, Ruskin was familiar with Marx's Communist Manifesto.In his Stones of Venice and in many of his later works, Ruskin would rail against creeping capitalism, silk-hatted factory owners, free-market enterprise, and a general lack of appreciation for the lot of the common worker.Added to these doctrines was his belief that human beings tended to fit a mold and could be counted on to act in pre-determined ways.Individuality counted far less than collective action.Where Marx might shout: "Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains," Ruskin might substitute "architects" for "workers."

In order for Ruskin to lend credence to his theory that Gothic architecture had suffered an irreversible decline since the Middle Ages, he noted six categories of Gothicism, all of which had to be present for contemporary builders to include in their building designs.Beginning with savageness, the first criterion, Ruskin waxes pessimistically over the likelihood that current architects will ever regain the deft touches of their forebears.He does not blame the individual builders for an excess of laziness, stupidity, or greed.Rather, he blames the social fabric that encouraged the dissolution of formerly high principles of art and life.If workers, stonecutters, architects, and craftsmen of all types are deficient in the six types of needed traits, then the fault lies with the dehumanization of the worker by the factory system--a key component of Marxist dogma.Nowhere in any of Ruskin's books does he allow for any other explanation for the decline of art and morality.If the stones of Venice were indeed broken to create a flawed and ugly environment that matched an equally flawed and ugly soul of society, then Ruskin's claim that the source of all this lay in capitalism may need a more objective view than his.

excellent abridgement of a brilliant work
The Stones of Venice is beautifully written and a must-read for anyone interested in art, architecture, Venice, and Victorian literature. The massive original has been pared down here into a much more manageable volume without sacrificing its brilliant prose and insightful commentary. It'll easily fit in your carry-on luggage for your next trip to Italy.

This is only a VERY SHORT EXCERPT!!!!
This is misleading...not even 5% of the Ruskin masterwork is printed in this book.

Dover 3 Vol. edition is UNABRIDGED
Amazon frequently mixes reader reviews of various editions of a given classic work. Such is the case here.Be advised that if you are now veiwing the Dover 3 vol. edition of Ruskin's The Stones of Venice, it is the UNABRIDGED edition of this work.Not a single word is missing. As such, this is the ultimate edition to own.

A Needed Clarification
Hey, guys! A lot of the reviews of this book are complaining that the text is abridged. No! This book is the first of THREE VOLUMES which, together, make up the entire "Stones of Venice." To get the whole thing, you need to buy Volumes 10 and 11 as well, not just Volume 9. (N.B., "The Nature of Gothic," the best-known part, is in Volume 10.) It's all there. You just weren't looking in the right place.

That having been said, it's a shame that one has to spend about $300 to get the complete text in a nice, hardbound format. But it's still a worthy investment. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Keen insights
This book is the first in a series on painters by Ruskin, modern at the time of writing, focusing chiefly on J.M.W.Turner, whom Ruskin, well, adores.Ruskin has many keen insights into art, painting, and what is and isn't art.He tells it like it is, and makes some important points.The book, or series of books, was apparently well read in previous times, and apparently not read at all in our epoch of Modern Art.What irony. Anyway, the book is a little difficult to read, and references painters who may have been well known to his readers in 19th century London, but are today not well known, except of course for Turner.Ruskin admits that Turners works lose a lot of their sparkle quickly, due to the intransigent nature of his materials, and suggests that Turner would have been better off doing a few oils a year, instead of dozens or hundreds or watercolors.May I also suggest Ruskin's excellent book called the Elements of Drawing?Worth a read, and easier to digest.Four stars because it is Ruskin, and has many elements of truth, not 5 because its a tough read, and maybe not too easy to assimilate. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more