John Ruskin, First Edition (Over 1,100 results)

Signed limited edition, number 318 of 570 copies signed by the artist. With a delightful original pen-and-ink and watercolour drawing by Rackham (signed and dated "Arthur Rackham 1932") on the limitation leaf, depicting the twelve year old Gluck opening the window to Southwest Wind, Esquire. Latimore & Haskell, pp. 67-68; Riall, p. 176. Octavo. Original limp vellum, titles to front cover gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, pictorial endpapers. With the original slipcase (with hand-numbered spine label). Housed in a custom green quarter morocco, fleece-lined solander box. Colour frontispiece and 3 colour plates, black and white illustrations in the text, by Rackham. Endpapers cockled, vellum a little puckered at corners (both having occurred during the binding process: a common trait with this book). An excellent copy.

Manuscript. Condition: Minor staining. Near Fine. Twelve 5" x 8" pages written on 3 folded leaves, stitched together at the vertical fold, not signed but completely in Ruskin's hand. A presumably complete and untitled essay, possibly unpublished, on realism in art and its relation to morals. Ruskin begins, "Realism in any work of art . is by no means a modern attribute. We find it in the paintings of Raphael just as unmistakably as in those [of] Meissonier or Duran. We may very properly call it the natural -- the human -- element of a work of art, and no doubt it is this element which pleases us most in all masterpieces. But realism is not the sole end, nor even the chief end of artistic creations; if it were, we should prize a photograph more than one of Turner's landscapes. Now contemporary fiction must be subject to the same laws as past fiction, only its worth must vary according to the merits of the present novelists. The three greatest English novelists -- Thackeray, George Eliot, and Dickens were minute in their copies of human nature & precise in their character dissection. Of the three, Dickens avowedly wrote for a 'purpose' -- to remedy abuse of a specific character -- to denounce foundling houses, charity schools and courts of chancery, but while he succeeded in mitigating or correcting many of these wrongs, he necessarily pushed his realism too far -- to the detriment of his art. Dickens invests the lowest classes with romance; he makes them so attractive that you regret you were not born a pauper." Ruskin discusses other British authors as well as the French school: "I think we shall find that the French realistic school (and its imitation in England & America) fails signally. Realism is not to blame as much as the want of art. We may regard realism as an aid to morals if it is interwoven with the artistic element. If unaccompanied by this, realism in fiction can never lead to the highest creations of genius, may frequently be pernicious, and will probably often be dull." The essay does not appear in the WORKS OF JOHN RUSKIN, ed. Cook and Wedderburn (Cambridge, 1903-12). The date is written, apparently in another hand, at the very end of the essay. The OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY cites Ruskin s MODERN PAINTERS as the earliest instance of the word "realism" to mean "close resemblance to what is real; fidelity of representation, rendering the precise detail of the real thing or scene.".

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Magazine. 105 bound volumes and 98 individual issues in wrappers. Octavos. A long run from 1860-1933 of this famous Victorian literary magazine known for debuting the works of many important English writers. The set includes volumes 1-29 (January 1860-June 1874), 34-114 (July 1876-December 1916), and volumes 125-129 (January 1922-June 1924) bound in contemporary publisher's cloth or full linen boards. Also included are 98 monthly issues (numbers 337-450) in the original printed wrappers (July 1924-December 1933, lacking July 1930, and May, November, and December 1931). Among the many complete works included in this long run are the first appearances of *Framley Parsonage*, *The Claverings*, and two other novels by Trollope, as well as Thackeray's *The Adventures of Philip* and his complete column: "Roundabout Papers." Other works from the 1860s include *Romola* by George Eliot, *Wives and Daughters* by Elizabeth Gaskell, *Armadale* by Wilkie Collins, *Unto This Last* by John Ruskin, *Culture and Anarchy* by Matthew Arnold, and Tennyson's "Tithonus." Works from the 1870s and 1880s include *The Adventures of Harry Richmond* by George Meredith, *Daisy Miller* and *Washington Square* by Henry James, *The Pavilion on the Links* and *The Merry Men* by Robert Louis Stevenson, and the first 29 chapters of *Far from the Madding Crowd* by Thomas Hardy. *J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement* was first published anonymously by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1884, and *The White Company* first appeared under his name in 1891-92. *The Lagoon* by Joseph Conrad appeared in 1897. *Cornhill* maintained its high reputation up through the 1930s. Works from the early 20th Century include poems and prose pieces by Robert Bridges, Thomas Hardy, W.B. Yeats, Ford Madox Ford, and Katherine Tynan. The magazine also featured illustrations by George du Maurier, Frederic Leighton, Edwin Landseer, John Everett Millais, and other leading artists. Most were engraved on wood by the Brothers Dalziel, and include numerous full-page and folding plates. Most volumes from 1860 to 1901 are bound in contemporary publisher's cloth (with some rebound in full cloth), volumes from 1902 to 1924 are rebound in full cloth (most with the original wrappers included), and single monthly issues from the 1920s and early 1930s are in the original printed wrappers. Ex-library set with bookplates, most 19th Century volumes with a small embossed stamp on the title pages and a perforated stamp on the plates. The earliest volumes are chipped at the spines and edges, a few with split spines and detached boards, else overall a good set of bound volumes; the single issues in wraps are unmarked and very good or better. A very nice assemblage of notable 19th Century literature and illustrations.

Couverture rigide. - Mercure de France, Paris 1904, 12x19cm, relié sous étui. - Edition originale de la traduction française établie par Marcel Proust, un des exemplaires de première émission numérotés à la presse. Reliure à la bradel en demi percaline indigo, dos lisse orné d'un motif floral doré, double filet en queue, pièce de titre de chagrin rouge, plats de papier marbré, couvertures conservées, reliure de l'époque; chemise-étui en plein maroquin noir, dos lisse, date dorée en queue, intérieur de daim bleu marine, chemise-étui signée de P. Goy & C. Vilaine. Précieux envoi autographe de l'auteur à son jeune ami écrivain Max Daireaux. S'il a bien connu la famille Daireaux à Neuilly ce n'est qu'en 1908 à leur retour de Buenos Aires que Proust se lie d'amitié avec le jeune Max, de treize ans son cadet. Ils entretiendront, pendant plusieurs années, une importante correspondance essentiellement littéraire. On note ainsi que la première lettre de Proust à ce nouvel ami, écrite en septembre 1908 sous forme de poème dédicatoire, est jointe à un exemplaire des Plaisirs et les jours. Plus tard, Proust appuiera la publication des écrits de son protégé dans le Figaro et, en 1913, sollicitera ses lumières scientifiques lors de la correction de son manuscrit de la Recherche. Il lui soulignera à cette occasion qu'il a utilisé dans "Les Jeunes filles" une anecdote survenue chez les Daireaux: " Il n'y a (dans le second volume) qu'un seul mot bête et il a été dit par moi chez vous." (lettre du 19 juin 1913). [ENGLISH TRANSLATION FOLLOWS] First edition of the French translation by Marcel Proust, a first impression copy numbered in the press. Contemporary Bradel binding in half cloth, covers preserved, chemise-slipcase in morocco signed by P. Goy & C. Vilaine. Handsome autograph inscription from the author to his young frien, the writer Max Daireaux.

Couverture rigide. - Mercure de France, Paris 1904, 12x19cm, relié. - Edition originale de la traduction française établie par Marcel Proust, un des exemplaires de première émission numérotés à la presse, il n'a été tiré que 7 Hollande en grands papiers. Reliure en demi chagrin marron, dos à cinq nerfs, plats de papier marbré, contreplats et gardes de papier à la cuve, couvertures conservées, reliure de l'époque Rare envoi autographe signé de Marcel Proust à Georges Goyau : « A Monsieur Georges Goyau. Son admirateur affectueux et reconnaissant Marcel Proust » Ce dernier était un historien et essayiste français qui collaborait notamment à la Revue des deux mondes, il était également l'époux de Lucie Faure-Goyau, une des amies d'enfance de Marcel Proust. Le 18 décembre 1904, il publia un article encenseur sur La Bible d'Amiens dans le Gaulois, suite à une sollicitation de Proust lui-même, qui accompagnait probablement cet exemplaire. Dans la lettre de remerciements qui suivit la parution de cet article, Marcel Proust confia à Georges Goyau sa conception philosophique du travail d'un traducteur : « Vous savez quelle admiration j'ai pour Ruskin. Et comme je crois que chacun de nous a charge des âmes qu'il aime particulièrement, charge de les faire connaître et aimer, de leur éviter le froissement des malentendus et la nuit, l'obscurité comme on dit, de l'oubli, vous savez de quelles mains - scrupuleuses - mais pieuses et aussi douces que j'ai pu - j'ai touché à celle-là. » Précieux exemplaire comportant un affectueux envoi autographe de Marcel Proust sur sa première traduction de Ruskin. [ENGLISH TRANSLATION FOLLOWS] La Bible d'Amiens [The Bible of Amiens] Mercure de France | Paris 1904 | 12 x 19 cm | half morocco First edition of Marcel Proust's translation of Ruskin's work into French. One of the first issue copies numbered at the press, there were only seven copies printed on Hollande luxury paper. Half brown hard-grained morocco, covers preserved. Contemporary binding. Rare autograph inscription from Marcel Proust to Georges Goyau: "à Monsieur Georges Goyau. Son admirateur affectueux et reconnaissant Marcel Proust" ("To Monsieur Georges Goyau. His affectionate and grateful admirer Marcel Proust") The latter was a French historian and essayist who contributed notably to the Revue des deux mondes, and was also the husband of Lucie Faure-Goyau, one of Marcel Proust's childhood friends. On 18 December 1904, Goyau published an article praising La Bible d'Amiens in the newspaper Le Gaulois, following a request from Proust himself, which was probably enclosed with the copy. In the acknowledgement letter that followed the publication of this article, Marcel Proust confided to Georges Goyau his philosophical conception of the work of a translator: "You know what admiration I have for Ruskin. And as I believe that each of us is responsible for the souls he loves in particular, responsible for making them known and loved, for sparing them the chafing of misunderstandings and the night, the darkness as they say, of oblivion, you know with what hands - scrupulous - but pious and as gentle as I could - I have touched this one." Precious copy with an affectionate autograph inscription from Marcel Proust on his first translation of Ruskin.

Hardcover. First Edition. Full gilt-decorated dark blue morocco by Zaensdorf, gilt dentelles with silk endpapers, all edges gilt; recently and professionally rebacked with the original spine. With 4 Autograph Letters SIGNED by Ruskin tipped in at the front and rear of the volume. According to a printed statement after the title page, the book was limited to a few copies for private circulation only. Thomas Wise in his bibliography of Ruskin states, "The volume contains thirty-six letters, five of which had appeared previously in various magazines, the remaining thirty-one being printed here for the first time." According to W. G. Partington in his book about Wise, FORGING AHEAD (page 294), this was printed by R. Clay & Sons for Wise, who stated that 40 copies were issued, 33 printed on paper and 7 on vellum. This is one of the 7 printed on vellum and with two colophon pages, the first stating that the book was privately printed in 1890 followed by a page correctly stating it was printed in 1892. In the paper copies an erratum slip was inserted to correct the mistake. The first of the 4 letters on Corpus Christi College Oxford stationery is undated and addressed only to "My dear Sir." Ruskin apologizes for neglecting his correspondent, stating that his prints "are in hand and I should be glad to see you, with your drawings tomorrow at 2." The second letter, on Brantwood stationery and addressed the same way, dated 26 January 1880, mentions that he will be happy to receive Mr. Newman's drawings. The third letter, also on Brantwood stationery, is to H. Buxton Forman dated 7 May 1876. In part: "Yes, those Kataph papers are mine; written when I was 18 or 19. (I was born 1819)-- I forget their date exactly." This letter was sold at The Anderson Galleries in Sale 1476 in 1920, possibly with the previous letter. The last letter, no year on Denmark Hill stationery, consists of one sentence: "I shall have pleasure in signing the memorial." Evidence of bookplate removal from front pastedown. Except for slight waviness and stiffness to some of the pages, the contents of the book, including the letters, is about Fine as is the binding with the color of the front cover faded to a darker color than the rear.

Full leather hardcover. Condition: very good. 39 volumes. Edited by E.T. Cook & Alexander Wedderburn. With numerous gravure plates from drawings, paintings, photographs and other sources, some in color; many illustrations in the text. 24x16 cm (8 x 5.5 inches), full decoratively embossed burgundy goatskin, spines lettered in gilt; tooled with a gilt peacock figure, gilt inner dentelles, top edges gilt, others untrimmed. One of 2062 sets, printed at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh. The full leather Library Edition was only a very small part of this edition. The sumptuous and sought-after Library Edition of Ruskin's works, presenting the full range of his literary, artistic, and philosophic genius, superbly printed on fine paper, in the desirable full morocco binding. Includes all of his known works with many letters and previously unpublished material up to that date and forms a tremendous record of the achievement of one of Britain's foremost art critics who was also an accomplished artist in his own right as well as being an important patron, philanthropist and social thinker. Spines lightly sunned, most volumes with minor chipping to leather at spines and edges; occasional volume with minor toning or foxing on leaves at front or rear, a few volumes with decorative bookplates; interiors otherwise clean and bright; overall near fine. Ships from Hawaii. The book price INCLUDES SHIPPING within the US, a $450.00 - $900.00 value ! Please inquire for international shipping. Full Leather Library Edition in 39 volumes.

Condition: Near Fine. First Thus. Library Edition. Limited to 2,062 copies (of which 2,000 are for sale). Complete in thirty-nine large octavo volumes (9 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches; 242 x 165 mm.). Bound in contemporary three-quarter green levant morocco over green cloth boards ruled in gilt. Spines with five raised bands, decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut, marbled endpapers. Several volumes sunned at spine. Frontispieces and plates (including chromolithographs, photogravures (some tinted blue or sepia), and engravings), numerous text illustrations, and facsimiles. Printed at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh. With the bookplates of Ernest Ridley Debenham. Overall, a Near Fine set. "The object of the editors has been to put the readers of this edition in possession of a complete collection of Ruskin's published Writings." It includes "all Ruskin's books now current in other editions.a reissue of all publications by him now out of print or only privately circulated.all his letters, articles, and other scattered writings, printed but not heretofore collected.and a collation of all the different editions, thus bringing together within the pages of each book everything that he at any time published in it." This edition also includes "all the illustrations inserted by Ruskin in his books, and all the drawings by him which have hitherto been published [many printed from the original plates]. These are an essential portion of his work." The last volume contains a bibliography, a catalogue of the manuscripts, and a full index to Ruskin's works. Near Fine.

couverture souple. - Mercure de France, Paris 1906, 12x19cm, broché. - Edition originale de la traduction française, des notes et de la préface établies par Marcel Proust, un des exemplaires de première émission numérotés à la presse. Agréable exemplaire. Précieux envoi autographe signé de Marcel Proust au diplomate, homme politique et historien Gabriel Hanotaux, grand ami du père de Proust, Adrien Proust, et que Marcel choisira comme premier modèle du mentor Norpois dans La Recherche. En effet, Hanotaux joua un rôle très important dans l'éducation du jeune Proust. Il est sans doute à l'origine de son premier emploi après sa licence de droit, un poste d'attaché non rétribué à la Bibliothèque Mazarine duquel Proust s'échappera régulièrement en invoquant la protection d'Hanotaux. "L'histoire a fait de l'ancien ministre des Affaires étrangères Gabriel Hanotaux, par son désir de rester attaché à la vitalité politique de son temps, et par le fait qu'il avait croisé le fer avec le jeune Marcel Proust à propos de sa vocation littéraire, le modèle le plus intéressant du marquis de Norpois. Porte-parole d'une vie d'action et d'une écriture journalistique, il a réussi comme le professeur Adrien Proust, mais mieux que lui peut-être, à incarner le parfait paternalisme." (Finn, Michael R. "Norpois, Père Ou Mentor?" Revue d'Histoire Littéraire de La France 93, no. 1) Plus qu'un simple envoi d'amitié, cette dédicace sur sa seconde traduction de Ruskin, mais surtout sur sa célèbre préface "sur la lecture", anonciatrice du chef d'oeuvre à venir, est une véritable demande de reconnaissance intellectuelle au mentor de sa jeunesse, mais également la marque de son émancipation, à l'instar du narateur de La Recherche envers le marquis de Norpois. [ENGLISH DESCRIPTION ON DEMAND].

Hardcover. First American Edition. Original purple cloth. James Garfield's copy SIGNED and dated by the future President on the front free endpaper: "J. A. Garfield/1867" with his printed bookplate ("Library of/James A. Garfield/Inter Folia Fructus") on the front pastedown. Books signed by Garfield are rather uncommon. Garfield served only four months as President before being shot by Charles Guiteau. His term was the second shortest served by a President. Contents clean. Covers faded with a large dampstain on the rear with an effect on the inside rear cover but very little to the rear endpapers; slight fraying to the rear spine edge and head. Good or better.

First edition thus, first impression, one of very few printed on vellum. This is a superb copy, with a distinguished provenance, coming from the library of New York banker, stockbroker, and author, Henry William Poor (1844-1915), who was a noted collector and patron of the arts. "Mr. Poor is a man of refined and scholarly tastes and prominent in the social life of the city. He is an ardent student and a great lover of books and has, by careful and gradual accumulation, collected one of the finest private libraries in the city of New York" (Hall). Henry Hall (ed.), America's Successful Men of Affairs, pp. 512-3, The New York Tribune, 1895-96. Quarto. Original vellum with yapp edges, spine lettered in gilt, small gilt device to front board, brown ties, untrimmed. Printed in red and black, decorative border to each page with lily of the valley motifs. Armorial red morocco gilt bookplate of Henry William Poor to the front pastedown. One tie missing, binding somewhat darkened, else sound, internally crisp; a near-fine copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. An attractive 3 v. first edition set of Ruskin`s treatise on art and architecture, with a separate sepia photograph of the author taken by Elliot & Fry, Victorian photographers, with facsimile signature of Ruskin. 3 v. set top edges gilt. Heraldic ex-libris to front pastedown of v.1. Occasional foxing and other marks. Ex-booksellers` stickers to pastedowns. Otherwise in reasonably nice condition. Signed by Author(s). Used book.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. London: Smith Elder and Co., 1848 to 1860, First Editions (Vols II, III, IV, V and Seven Lamps) and Third Edition (Vol I). Approximately 10 ¼ inches tall. Six full leather bound volumes by J Ramage & Co. in an elegant morocco binding, with gilt titles and decoration to the spine compartments, all page edges gilt, some marks and scratches to the leather. Gilt decoration to the boards, inner gilt dentelles and marbled end papers. A lovely set. Internally sporadically foxed see photos. Five volumes. Volume I a Third Edition [1846]; Vol II to V first Editions [1846-60].The Seven Lamps of Architecture also a First Edition, in a slightly lighter brown morocco leather. Volumes III-V each with frontispiece plus a total of 85 engravings on steel and 8 on wood, and several wood-engraved illustrations in the text by the author, J. M. W. Turner, and others. The Seven Lamps of Architecture with 14 engraved illustrations. Vol I - 1846, THIRD EDITION, lxiii, [i], 422pp; Vol II - 1846, FIRST EDITION, xvi, 220pp; Vol III - 1856, FIRST EDITION, xix, [i], 348pp, Frontispiece plus plates 1-17 engravigs on steel (one in colour), tissue guard missing on plate 4; Vol IV - 1856, FIRST EDITION, xii, 411pp, Frontispiece plus plates 18-50 engravings on steel, tissue guard missing on plate 29, 30 and 45; Vol V - 1860, FIRST EDITION, xvi, 384pp, Frontispiece plus plates 51-84 plus unnumbered 85 engravings on steel, and 8 engravings on wood. The Seven Lamps of Architecture - 1860, FIRST EDITION, viii, [iv], 205pp, 14 plates. John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, as well as an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, philosopher, prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society. Approximately 10 ¼ inches tall. Condition Report Externally Spine very good condition gilt titles and decoration, five raised gilt bands, gently rubbed, with minor marks and scratches, a little faded, Seven Lamps a slightly different shade. Joints very good condition gently rubbed and worn. Corners very good condition gently bumped and worn. Boards very good condition gilt decorated, gilt lined edges, marks and scratches see photos. Page edges very good condition all edges gilt. See above and photos. Internally Hinges very good condition secure. Paste downs very good condition inner gilt dentelles, binder's stamp in gilt to the marbled paper, marbled paper paste downs. End papers very good condition marbled. Title very good condition lightly tanned, some foxing. Pages very good condition lightly tanned, some foxing, illustrated to Vols III-V and Seven Lamps, minor foxing to the illustrations. Binding very good condition attractive full leather bindings. See photos. Publisher: see above. Publication Date: 1846-1860 Binding: Hardback.

17 pp. 1 vols. 12mo. First edition of the author's first book. 17 pp. 1 vols. 12mo. Presentation Copy. Ruskin's first book, published while a student at Christ Church, Oxford, the Newdigate Prize poem for 1839. "With J. Ruskin's kind regards" on the title-page. Polished tan calf, gilt, t.e.g. Rebacked preserving spine. Very good. Internally fine First edition of the author's first book.

Full Leather. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Large 8vo. Handsomely bound by A Staderini of Rome in full brown morocco, upper and lower panels framed with thin black morocco inlay and gilt, gilt paneled spine, top edge gilt, brown coated endpapers, pastedowns bordered with gilt-rules, ribbon bookmark. Pp. viii, 205, 14 black & white plates with tissue guards, coloured plan of Exeter Cathedral, tipped-in Errata slip. Tipped-in at the half-title is a two-page holograph letter from John Ruskin to his publisher, George Murray Smith of Smith, Elder, dated April 23, 1849, prior to the May 1849 first publication. The entire letter is with regard to the publication of "The Seven Lamps ." Ruskin expresses his disappointment with the proof for "Lamp of Beauty": "I intended it to be far different, and I hoped it would have been creditable to the book and to you. I am sadly disappointed in it, but I fear it must go as it is ." He also discusses some of the plates, an inclusion to the notes thanking Mr. Rogers for his arrangements and adaptation, etc. Covers slightly scuffed and the joints lightly split near the spine ends, else a nice clean copy with the letter in good condition, folded and tipped-in at the front.

Letter. An early one-page AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED "J Ruskin," written when he was just 17 years old, on one panel of a 10" x 8" sheet folded in fours addressed to W. H. White, Secretary of the British Meteorological Society. In full: "I take the liberty of troubling you with the accompanying papers [not present], as I am not aware of the manner in which communications are usually presented to the Society. I shall be highly gratified of the members of the Meteorological Society consider these observations, for the accuracy of which I can answer, though of their utility I am doubtful, as in any degree interesting." In a letter to his father three days later, Ruskin wrote, "The Society would be much better employed, instead of listening to anticipations which never will be realised, and prophecies which the weather takes good care not to fulfil, in as certaining the causes and effects of phenomena which have actually taken place, or in perusing such scientific and interesting communications as one which I sent in to Mr. White, and which he says in a note he will have great pleasure in laying before the Society at their next meeting (to-morrow, Tuesday evening)" (THE LETTERS OF JOHN RUSKIN 1827 - 1889, from THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN RUSKIN, Library Edition 1909, Volume XXXVI, page 10). "[The paper was 'On the Formation and Colour of such Clouds as are caused by the Agency of Mountains.' It was not printed" (ibid). Ruskin, throughout his life, was interested in geology and meteorology, and in his writings he contributed to the environmental aspect of climate science, the moral concept that human beings should not pollute the environment, which could have consequences for local and even global climate. In an article Ruskin would write two years later for the Society ("Remarks on the Present State of Meteorological Science," TRANSACTIONS OF THE METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY London 1 (1839): pages 56 59), he argued for universal cooperation: "The Meteorological Society . has been formed, not for a city, nor for a kingdom, but for the world." Accompanied by a carte-de-visite photograph of Ruskin. As far as we can determine, this letter is unpublished. Creases from mailing; minor soiling. Very Good.

Vellum. Condition: Near Very Good. Limited Edition. Limited to 500 copies. Book measures 21x15.cm. iv[1],127,[1]pp, With one elaborately decorated border, two Kelmscott woodcut devices printed in two places at the end of the table of contents and on the colophon, numerous woodcut initials, and several architectural woodcut figures in-text. Bound in original publishers full vellum, with gilt lettering and date. Vellum dust marked, spot marking, boards slightly sprung, lacking ties. Binding in good firm conmdition. Internally, previous owners bookplate. Pages in very good clean condition. A nice copy. Size: 8vo.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition. A sharp copy of this limited edition of 570 copies SIGNED by Arthur Rackham. The book is in nice shape. The binding is tight, and the boards are crisp with light wear to the spine and edges. The pages are clean with no writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a lovely copy SIGNED by Rackham in collector's condition. We buy SIGNED Rackham books. Signed by Author(s).

Hard Cover. Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. Preface by William Morris. First edition thus. One of 500 copies printed in "golden" type. Bound in contemporary vellum, with titles in gilt to spine. Near fine, with light soiling to vellum, light toning to page edges, lacking ties, and some rippling to pages. Overall, a beautiful copy. The Nature of Gothic is a chapter from English writer John Ruskin's three-volume work, Stones of Venice (1851-1853), which explores the history of Venice and its architecture. In the chapter, Ruskin praises Gothic architecture as emblematic of an ideal in which joy, freedom, and creative expression are found in labor. Ruskin - and particularly this chapter of his - profoundly shaped Morris' views on labor and the importance of handcraftsmanship, which Morris promulgated in the Arts and Crafts movement. In his preface to The Nature of Gothic, Morris writes "To my mind, and I believe to some others, [The Nature of Gothic] is one of the most important things written by the author, & in future days will be considered as one of the very few necessary and inevitable utterances of the century.".

5 volumes. Early Editions of Volumes I and II, First Editions of Volumes III, IV and V, all uniform in size and binding. With 3 frontispiece plates, 84 fine steel-engraved plates and 8 wood-engraved plates, in colours and black and white Royal 8vo, exquisitely bound by Riviere and Son in full contemporary tree calf richly gilt in compartments of the spines incorporating elaborate floral and illustrative tooling, lettered in gilt in two compartments, dated at the foot, double-ruled, gilt borders to the covers surrounding a richly tooled inner border of flowering vines, richly gilt inner dentelles, top edges gilt, marbled endleaves. Vol. I, Containing Parts I and II. 'Of General Principles and of Truth', lxiii, 423; Vol. II containing Part III, Sections I and II, 'Of the Imaginative and Theoretic Faculties', xvi, 224; Vol. III containing Part IV, 'Of Many Things', xix, 348, with plates as called for; Vol. IV containing Part V, 'Of Mountain Beauty', xii, 411, with plates as called for; Vol. V completing the work and containing Parts VI, 'Of Leaf Beauty', VII 'Of Cloud Beauty', VIII 'Of Ideas of Relation ( Of Invention Formal )' IX' Of Ideas of Relation ( Of Invention Spiritual )', xvi, 384 pp. A very handsome set, very well preserved with only some cosmetic evidence of use or age, a bit of light rubbing to some tips, a splendid binding with two volumes starting at the front hinges, tender but the cords in place. AN IMPORTANT SET IN VERY PLEASING CONDITION, INCLUDING THREE FIRST EDITION VOLUMES, ALL BOUND AND SIGNED BY RIVIERE AND SON. A difficult set to find so handsomely bound and in such nice and presentable condition. Ruskin began this work in 1843 at the tender age of 24 shortly after leaving Oxford, offering it as a defense of J. M. W. Turner, an accomplished landscape artist. The fifth and final volume was published in 1860, and it represented the last of Ruskin s works on art per se; his attention was subsequently turned more toward industrial problems, education, morals and religion. The set contains a vast profusion of magnificent plates from steel and wood engravings and a very fine index to this great work of Ruskin s.

First trade edition, first impression. Presentation copy from the artist and his wife, inscribed on the half-title: "To Fanny from Edyth & Arthur Rackham, Xmas 32" and with an accompanying pen-and-ink sketch of the King of the Golden River. Fanny Starkie was Rackham's sister-in-law. Latimore & Haskell, pp. 67-68; Riall, p. 176. Octavo. Original pictorial wrappers, pictorial endpapers. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom blue quarter morocco, fleece-lined solander box. Colour frontispiece and 3 colour plates, black and white illustrations in the text, by Rackham. Jacket light soiled, spine toned, some nicks, chips and creases, some foxing a marks to a few pages, slight ink blemishes in margin of frontispiece. A very good copy.

First edition of this key text of the aesthetic movement. Its "obsession with the function and aesthetics of architecture, over and beyond its history and practice, again proved a revolutionary success" (PMM). The work's importance lies "in its celebration of the Byzantine and the Gothic, which had an immediate effect on Victorian architects, who began to introduce Romanesque forms and Venetian and Veronese colour and sculptural features into their designs" (ODNB). The most famous chapter, "The Nature of Gothic", was twice separately reprinted in the author's lifetime, firstly for the inaguaration of the London Working Men's College in 1854, secondly by William Morris in 1892. In this chapter, "Ruskin argued that under conditions of industrialization and the division of labour, social disharmony and industrial unrest were bound to occur, because the previously expressive craftsman - Ruskin's ideal working man - had been reduced to the condition of a machine" (ODNB). Grolier English 100, 92; Printing and the Mind of Man 315 (for Ruskin). 3 volumes, imperial octavo. Original brown cloth, gilt-lettered spines stamped with gilt devices and blind floral column, covers with rules and wide floral roll in blind enclosing gilt centrepiece, brick-red endpapers, top edges gilt, others untrimmed. With 53 plates, including 5 chromolithographs by William Dickes, all with captions and tissue guards, after Ruskin by Thomas Lupton, J. C. Armytage, R. P. Cuff, and others; further illustrations in the text. Bound with rear ads in each volume and vol. I errata slip at rear. Book label of Philip Sheppard Jr of Hampton Manor House on front free endpaper versos, vol. I with his signature and slight abrasion to his label; front pastedown of vol. II with bookseller's ticket of Pocock, Bath. Expert repairs to spines and extremities, vol. II with rear free endpaper renewed, sporadic light foxing, presenting very well.

Vol. 1: 3rd edn; vols 2-5 1st edns. Tall 8vo. 5 volumes. v1: [lxiii], 422, [32] pp. / v2: [xvi], 217 pp. / v3: [xviii], 348, [16] pp. Illus. Inscribed on half-title by Ruskin, 1856 / v4: [xii], 411, [16] pp. Illus. Inscribed on half-title by Ruskin, 1856 / v5: [xvi], 384, [32] pp. Illus. Inscribed on half title, 1860. Vol. 1 bears the bookplate of Kenneth Clark, Saltwood on paste-down. The set has been rebound by Westleys & Clark London, retaining the original covers of the volumes, and is in very good condition. (74349).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Handled by Blackwell in Oxford with its small sticker on one of the front free endpapers. Pencilled on the second free endpaper is the following statement: "This copy was bound & presented by J. Ruskin to the lady afterwards the first Mrs. P." The reference is to Emily Andrews, daughter of Ruskin's boyhood tutor in Greek (Edward Andrews) and a playmate of Ruskin's. She later became the first wife of another Ruskin family friend, Coventry Patmore, who had two wives after her death. If the penciled reference is accurate, this is one of the most desirable copies of Ruskin's rare first book. In ink on the same endpaper is the following: "Charles J Billson from FWP September 5th 1894." The initials are not exactly clear; they may be FMP. We have not been able to identify the person. Charles Billson's bookplate is inside the front cover dated 1894. In that year he was President of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society. The book is elegantly bound in crimson leather. On the front and back covers are highly ornate gilt frames. Within the frame on the front is the information on the title page up to the arms of Oxford. The spine is divided into compartments by small raised bands. Within each compartment is the same ornate gilt decoration. All edges gilt. The leather on the covers has very slight wear at the corners and a small scuff on the lower right hand corner of the front cover. There is a small area of adhesion inside the front cover where a second bookplate is missing. Truly a Very Good Copy. 19 pp. The colored paper wrappers have not been bound in. Wise and Smart, Vol. I, p. 3.

FIRST EDITION. 170 x 117 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 3/4"). 2 p.l., 196 pp. Very pretty teal blue crushed morocco, elaborately gilt, by Charles Elsden Gladstone (signed in gilt "C. E. G." on front turn-in), covers with intertwining gilt vine forming a lattice design, the compartments formed containing a Tudor rose or gilt lettering, raised bands, spine compartments tooled with a swirl of gilt vine, wide turn-ins with spray of gilt leaves at corners, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Printed in black and red. Rear free endpaper with cut signature of "F. T. Palgrave 1865" mounted below manuscript notes in pencil. â Spine evenly sunned to gray-brown, faint freckled foxing to flyleaves, but an excellent copy, clean and fresh internally, and the binding with few signs of wear. This is the first printing of Ruskin's famous lectures addressing what to read, the education and obligations of women in the monied classes, and the ultimate mystery of life, offered here in a binding by a talented amateur. Ruskin said that if one read the first two lectures in conjunction with his "Unto This Last" (1862), one would know "the chief truths" he had endeavored to display throughout his writings. Ruskin's views on aesthetics were no doubt of interest to Capt. Charles Elsden Gladstone, R.N. (1855-1919), a Royal Navy officer who bound several books in the late 19th and early 20th century. We do not know where he trained, but around the turn of the 20th century there were a number of opportunities available in England to study with established binders, either in one of the Arts & Crafts schools or in a workshop. Gladstone was a "finisher" who applied the gold tooling and decoration on books already bound in leather, and his work shows real skill and excellent taste. Former owner Francis Turner Palgrave (1824-97) was a literary critic and poet, best known for his poetical anthology "Golden Treasury of English Songs and Lyrics.".

Leather. Condition: Very Good. John Ruskin (illustrator). First edition. A smart set of the architectural works of John Ruskin, a lavishly illustrated set of his celebrated works. The first edition of 'Stones of Venice', second edition of 'Seven Lamps of Architecture.In four volumes, 'Stones of Venice' complete in three volumes, 'Seven Lamps' complete in one volume.'Stones of Venice' Volume I illustrated with with four colour plates and seventeen monochrome plates. Volume II illustrated with two colour plates and eighteen monochrome plates. Volume III illustrated with one colour plate and eleven monochrome plates. Collated, complete.'Seven Lamps' illustrated with a frontispiece, and thirteen plates. Collated, complete.'The Stones of Venice' is a detailed study on Venetian architecture. In the work, Ruskin describes over eight churches, and going into the architectural history of the city during the Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance periods. During his research for this work, Ruskin visited Venice twice with his wife Effie, the first visit being during the winter of 1849-1850. For his research, Ruskin sketched throughout the city, and, in 1849, bought his own camera, so he could take daguerreotypes. He made the effort to go and draw the Ca' d'Oro, and the Doge's Palace (or Palazzo Ducale), due to his fears that they would be destroyed by occupying Austrian troops.Ruskin wished to show how Venetian architecture exemplified the principles of architecture that he had put forward in his earlier work, 'The Seven Lamps of Architecture'. However, it was also a veiled criticism of modern society and the moral and spiritual health of society, which he views as degenerating. He viewed this degradation of the influence of true Christian faith. He critiques and attacks the division of labour, and industrial capitalism.'The Seven Lamps of Architecture' is an extended essay by John Ruskin about architecture. The essay discussed the principles of architecture, the work being divided into seven chapters, 'sacrifice', 'truth', 'power', 'beauty', 'life', 'memory', and 'obedience'.John Ruskin was an art critic in Victorian England, being an influential figure in the art world, especially with the Pre-Raphaelites. He was also greatly admired by Leo Tolstoy, Marcel Proust, and William Morris. He was incredibly influential during his life, up to the First World War, including influencing the founders of the National Trust.One leaf of adverts to the rear of Volume II.Bookplate of F. D. Astley to the front paste downs. From the library of Doctor Malcolm Higgs, an important architectural historian who worked as an assistant architect to Stirling & Gowan, working on their particularly renowned Leicester University Engineering Laboratory. During his long career he taught at the University of Edinburgh School of Architecture, Canterbury School of Architecture, and University of Nottingham. Later in his life he was the Vice-President and Honorary Librarian of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and contributed and edited the "Journal of Architecture". In a half calf binding with marbled paper to the boards. Externally, smart. Spines are faded. Light rubbing to the boards and spines. Minor bumping to the extremities. Rubbing has resulted in a little loss of leather to the rear board of Volume I and to the joints of 'Seven Lamps'. Some light marks to the boards. Small crack to the tail of the rear joint of Volume III. Bookplate to the front paste downs. Ink inscription to the verso of the front endpapers. Scattered spots to the endpapers. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and generally clean, with a few light handling marks and spots, including to the plates. Ink inscription to the title pages. Page 41/42 and the plate facing page 40 in Volume II are detached but present. Large chip to the margin of pages 53 to 58 of 'Stones' Volume III, no loss of text. Very Good. book.

6 vols., 8vo., First Edition thus, with 3 engraved frontispieces (original tissue guards present) and 87 engraved plates, some very light and inoffensive spotting; contemporary full vellum BY MACMILLAN & BOWES, bevelled boards, backstrips lettered in black, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers heightened with gilt, gilt doublures, a near fine set. The binding is signed on front free endpaper verso. A MOST ELEGANT SET AND VERY SCARCE INDEED IN THIS CONDITION.

Vol. 1: Third Edition - Revised by the Author. Volumes 2-5 First Editions. Five Volumes - Complete Set. 26 x 18 cm. Vol.1: lxiii, 422 pages plus 32 pages publishers list / Vol.2: xvi, 217 pages plus 3 pages publishers list / Vol.3: xix, 348 pages plus 16 pages publishers list and 18 Plates / Vol. 4: xii, 411 pages. With 35 Plates / Vol.5: xvi, 384 pages plus 32 pages publishers list and 34 Plates. Also small illustrations in text. Green cloth with elaborate blind decorations to boards. Gilt titles and decorations on spine. Small binder label in volume 1: 'Westleys & Clark, London'. Very good condition. All bindings are rubbed, bumped and some are stained. Various degrees of fraying to spine ends. Spines age darkened / browned. Edges and end papers age darkened. Internally dust dulled and occasionally mildly foxed. All Plates are present, a few are lose. Bindings sound. A nice complete set of this important publication. Please note: This is a heavy set of five books weighing close to 7 kg. Additional shipping charges may apply of shipped outside the UK or Ireland. Sprache: english.

Hardcover. First Edition. Two volumes in original boards with paper spine labels. Essays on Art Education, Architecture, J. M. W. Turner, Women: Their Work and Dress, and other topics. With a two-page AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED with an ORIGINAL DRAWING by Ruskin to "My dear Barnes" dated 8 September 1878 tipped to the front endpaper. In full: I don't like to give Mr. Ellis trouble about so little a thing, and I daresay you will be good enough to find time to do it for me; -- I want the best accounts that have been given in the papers of a waterspout said to have destroyed a town in Hungary: and of the late steamboat catastrophe at Woolwich: --buy the back numbers of any paper that give details and a little account, for which I will at once remit you post order, -- and if you are faring any time soon through the Burlington [?] please buy from the nice old lady who keeps the [?] shop near your Bond St. end of it, three of her least terrestrial globes-- (about this size they are, I think -- for some infinitesimal price! on a tiny stand. [Ruskin includes a drawing of the globe here with the remark: "I drew too large at first."] and send me these down here at once. Always very heartily & gratefully yours JRuskin." Darkening to edges of text; soiling and rubbing to covers, heaviest to spine. Very Good.

Letter. One-page AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED "John Ruskin" ona 4-1/2" x 6-7/8" sheet of light blue paper addressed to George Barnard, artist, writer, and from 1843 to 1880, the drawing master at Rugby School. Along with Ruskin, Barnard had been a pupil of the landscape artist, J. D. Harding and was a prominent member of the Alpine Club, known for his Alpine scenes and views of Switzerland. In full: "I am glad of your letter, and that the drawings are secured for the [?]-- which will take better care of them than any private proprietor could-- They are [?] [?] of old watercolor paints. --but have too much in [?] work on them to be as interesting as rougher sketches. I hope you may have satisfaction in our arrangements of them." Light crease from mailing with neat paper reinfocement of the crease on the verso. Fine.