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EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY CHAUNCEY B. TINKER Ph.D. ... Read more

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In a secluded and mountainous part of Styria there was,
in old time, a valley of the most surprising and luxuriant
fertility. It was surrounded on all sides by steep and
rocky mountains, rising into peaks, which were always
covered with snow, and from which a number of torrents
descended in constant cataracts. One of these fell
westward, over the face of a crag so high that, when
the sun had set to everything else, and all below was
darkness, his beams still shone full upon this waterfall, so
that it looked like a shower of gold. It was therefore
called by the people of the neighborhood.the Golden River.
It was strange that none of these streams fell into the ?
valley itself. They all descended on the other side of the mountains, and wound away through broad plains and by populous cities. (But the clouds were drawn so constantly to the snowy hills, and rested so softly in the circular hollow, that, in time of drought and heat, when all the country r

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Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.

Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the difficult to read text. Read books online for free at http://www.forgottenbooks.org ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

THE STORY HASA WELL WRITTEN LESSON
THIS STORY WAS ABOUT THREE BROTHERS WHO TWO OF THEM WERE VERY SELFISH AND ONLY THOUGHT OF THEMSELVES WHERE THE OTHER ONE WAS KIND AND THOUGHT OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. THE LESSON IN THE STORY IS THAT IF YOU THINK OF OTHERS OTHER THAN YOURSELF, YOU MAY BE REWARDED IN THE LONG RUN. I PERSONLAY ENJOYED READING THIS STORY TO MY LITTLE BOY WHO IS FIVE.I THINK ANY PARENT OR GRANDPARENT SHOULD READ THIS STROY TO A SMALL CHILD. THERE IS A IMPORTANT LESSON TO BE LEARNED IN THIS BOOK. I WOULD READ IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.......

John Ruskin wrote children's stories?
This is an amusing if slightly odd story. I guess that Ruskin considered himself such an intellectual jack of all trades that he'd a have a go at the genre, if only to say he'd done it.

The story is built from familiar parts. There's a Cinderella theme, built around a young boy and his two cruel brothers. There's also a theme of the wandering stranger who, after being treated well or poorly, rewards the doer equally well or poorly. In fact, that was such a cool idea that Ruskin threw in two magical beings quite independent of each other, making the front and back halves of this little creature look like thay came from two different animals.

It's a pleasant enough fairy tale, but not one that I'd spend a lot of time hunting down.

//wiredweird

PS: This reviews a different edition of the story, apparently not listed at Amazon. My 1962 edition was illustrated by Sardo Nardini. The pictures are competent and colorful but, like the story itself, forgettable.

childhood favorite!
I must have read this book when I was 7 or 8.When my familiy moved, I searched in vain for the book to re-read, but it must have been lost in the move.I discovered it on a friend's shelf a few weeks ago, and re-read it.What joy!I always thought of this as the story where a bad guy steals Holy Water, but it is much more than this.The young hero has two dreadful brothers.He takes their abuse, and repays them with kindness, rescuing them from their own greed.Ruskin's descriptions of the country side are dramatic and vivid. One warning: Some might be disturbed by the references to the brothers' drunken behavior.

A book to be avoided unless you are a sanctimonius humbug
I had it as a text book in my high school and hated it. I had to locate this book today to explain to my 9 year old how we always dont get to read interesting books, more so for class assignments. I know any number of kids who get turned off by Dickens just because they had a tyrannical teacher stuff it down, rather up their brainstems in junior high school. One is asked to read a book in so called dear time, got to read it and follow the party line to get the grades and move on. If you want to teach your child how to read for pleasure, this is not the book to start with.

Beware the Black Brothers!
Gluck is cast as the "poor younger child" of two abusive older brothers. They are all presented with a quest to find the source of the local river, and though the two older brothers fail, the younger brother suceeds because he is pure of heart. It's very classic, metaphorical and I highly recommend it, as it was a fave of mine as a child. I was glad to see it's still in print. Austrian. ... Read more

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First and foremost an outcry against injustice and inhumanity, "Unto this Last" is also a closely argued assault on the science of political economy, which dominated the Victorian period. Ruskin was a profoundly conservative man who looked back to the Middle Ages as a Utopia, yet his ideas had a considerable influence on the British socialist movement. And in making his powerful moral and aesthetic case against the dangers of unhindered industrialization he was strangely prophetic. This volume shows the astounding range and depth of Ruskin's work, and in an illuminating introduction the editor reveals the consistency of Ruskin's philosophy and his adamant belief that questions of economics, art and science could not be separated from questions of morality. In Ruskin's words, 'There is no Wealth but Life.' ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A Medieval Gothic Social Vision
John Ruskin gives us a vision of life that is strangely united: how do a few essays about art, architecture, and economic reform relate to one another? Indeed, much of Unto this Last seems disjointed--and not all essays are of equal worth; some are quite dated and others are just weird. Notwithstanding, rays of light break through and give us an alternative way of being and community.

Ruskin uses current (19th century) capitalism as his foil and "bad guy." This will cause many free-marketers to bristle. Not without reason will they consider Ruskin a "socialist." However, one must also consider that the days of the Industrial Revolution were quite grim. Whatever benefits it provided--and we cannot minimize the eventual breakthroughs in wealth--it was brutal and harsh. However, in reading Ruskin, we find this is not the worst criticism he throws at capitalism. It is not the fact that capitalism destroyed lives and introduced 16 hour workdays to the children. Rather, it was only the symptoms of a greater disease: Western world at this time had a view of reality that was violent and pragmatic, an ontology of violence if you will. Unfortunately, this is the weaker part of the book. Many of Ruskin's proposals--uniform wage among other things--will strike the reader as bizarre, at best. Fortunately, I think Ruskin's vision can be redeemed.

The following will be part Ruskin's proposals and partly my own reconstruction of Ruskin's thought. Ruskin proposes a Gothic society. Whether or not he truly understood it, Ruskin's vision is not too different from Augustine's in City of God book 19.4 and certainly echoes much of Plato's thought in The Republic. Ruskin notes that a society's architecture reflects its moral vision (233-234, 237). A Gothic society is one that arises out of a pure national faith and domestic virtue (239). This sounds like fascism, doesn't it? That's not what Ruskin has in mind. Following St Augustine, who reasoned that a society is one that shares its common objects and commonly loves its Object. Therefore, a pure national faith is nothing other than a society worshipping Christ and reflecting it, among other things, in its architecture.

The Gothic horror of capitalism
John Ruskin (1819-1900) was a British art critic who later turned social critic. His most well-known work is probably "The Stones of Venice", a tribute to medieval Venetian architecture. His most interesting work, however, might be "Unto this last", published in book form in 1862. This modern edition from Penguin contains both "Unto this last" and some of Ruskin's other writings, including "The Two Boyhoods" and most of "The meaning of Gothic" (taken from his work on Venice). The point of the selection is to emphasize the connection between Ruskin's social criticism and his view of art.

Ruskin was an arch-conservative, called himself High Tory and idealized the Middle Ages, medieval Venice in particular. In art, he supported the Romantic movement, and became known for defending the Romantic landscape painter Turner. Later, he associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, an ostensibly "medievalist" art movement. He also admired Gothic architecture for it's "savageness, changefulness, naturalism, grotesqueness, rigidity and redundance", usually considered negative features. To Ruskin, the seemingly chaotic style of Gothic buildings was truthful to nature, and he believed that the medieval workmen were free and creative spirits who could manufacture Gothic sculptures and ornaments according to their own whims. In many ways, he seems to have projected the Romantic view of the world back onto the High Middle Ages.

Ruskin shocked his pampered middle-class audience in 1860, when "Cornhill Magazine" began to serialize "Unto this last". This was not a work of art criticism, but a rather violent attack on capitalism! The subscribers to the magazine demanded that Ruskin's articles should be stopped, which they also were. Although unfinished, Ruskin published them in book form two years later. Marx would probably have classified Ruskin as a "feudal socialist", but "Unto this last" sounds more "bourgeois socialist" by Marxist standards. Ruskin calls for compulsory public education and believes that the state should generate employment through a massive program of public works. He seems to accept the labor theory of value, arguing that the just price isn't decided upon according to supply and demand on a market, but is relatively stable, based on the costs of production. He also attacks the old canard that lower wages lead to lower unemployment, and calls for fixed wage rates.

Ruskin points out that many professions accept fixed salaries regardless of supply and demand: soldiers, lawyers, doctors and priests. A good doctor stays on his post even during a plague epidemic, a soldier is ready to die for his country, and lawyers are supposed to administer justice, regardless of renumeration. So why should businessmen be any different? To Ruskin, businessmen should serve the community, and heroically bring needed goods (food, for instance) to the population, regardless of how much they can expect in profit. When accused of being a socialist, Ruskin sarcastically asked whether his opponents wanted to introduce "supply and demand" as a principle within the military? Rather than egalitarianism, Ruskin wanted a hierarchical society, inspired by Plato and Carlyle. He called for a paternalist state, a society organized like a large family, and constantly emphasizes heroism. Soldiers are willing to die for a loved general, regardless of their pay cheques.Factories should be organized on the same lines: obviously, workers don't have to die for their employers, but if the employer is like a loving father, productivity will increase, regardless of pay. Mothers are willing to give their children food even if they risk starvation themselves, and tradesmen should have the same attitude towards their customers (their community).

If there is a contradiction in "Unto this last", it's between Ruskin's moralist perspective, and the claim that a paternalist state would actually organize production and distribution more efficiently than laissez faire capitalism. Ruskin claims that it would, but if the main argument against capitalism is the supposed efficiency of Ruskin's system, what need is there for the moral argument? I think it's obvious that Ruskin's real argument was the moral one. His attacks on the destruction of the environment certainly doesn't sound like the writings of a man who simply wants to make industry more effective!

Personally, I don't like John Ruskin's ultra-hierarchical perspective, and I don't like Carlyle either (who was a vicious racist and White supremacist), but "Unto this last" is nevertheless a powerful attack on a free market system gone mad.

John Ruskin loved the Gothic and despised the Gothic horror of capitalism.

Ruskin's economics are based on morality, not on simplistic theories
Ruskin had a very refreshing and interesting point of view, and it's still valid today. Ruskin's ideology doesn't follow any left-right trends.

On some things he's a market proponent, while on others he's marxist. For instance, while he insists on fair wages (a socialist idea), he believes that those who strive harder should be rewarded more (a free-market idea). Basically, he gives the example of a bricklayer: if you hire one, you should pay him according to how much effort his job requires and that should be independent on who the bricklayer is, whether he's good at it or not; however, only the good bricklayers should expect to be offered work.

Overall, he presents his ideas in a rational/logical manner and supports his positions using simple examples most will agree with him on. It's refreshing to read work on economics that doesn't take either Marx's nor Smith's side.

Ruskin's economic analyses ARE ecomomic reality.
Ruskin, unlike Marx or Ayn Rand, bases his economic work in the real relations between human beings and the hard facts of work and exchange.There is no one reality in terms of aesthetics, or cultural approaches to the world, but _Unto This Last_ is THE TRUTH about human(and/or "post-human")economic realities.Our business-biased news media in the U.S., and academic Marxism, are ideologies.Ruskin is dealing with "mere" material reality.

Yes. What a book!
A compilation of some of the important works of Ruskin are included here, the most important being (in Ruskin's own words) "Unto This Last", which had a profoundly moving effect on Ghandi (among others) and his approach and philosophy. For Ruskin morality and moral economics, sustaining/healthy economics, comes from basic things like knowing who made your shirts and that this person is getting a fair wage for their efforts -- taking responsibility for the effect one's use of money has on the lives of others. Taking advantage of other's economic misfortune was immoral and likely to result in a future backlash on the greater society as well as well as one's inner well being. An intelligent/knowledgeable person taking advantage of the stupid or ignorant is no different than violence of the strong upon the weak, Ruskin analogized. Ruskin illustrated his ideal of a moral economy by using the Gothic "Christian" style as an example, explained in the "Stones of Venice", its communal/community development, its imperfection yet impressive beauty. Perfection is not beautiful in Ruskin's view of life/art; which echoes something of the Zen view of art. Ruskin also argued that homes, during the Gothic age, were in the Gothic style as well and that modern Churches should mimic something of the style of the typical house being built today, the church should not be seen as a separate entity, a separate style; the Church should be integral to the community's self identity and use a similar architecture. Ruskin also inadvertantly created a style and movement he did not aprove of, by creating such a popular view of the Gothic style, that being the Anglo/Catholic movement whom enjoyed the gothic style church and ceremony. (Just walk around most any town and and look at the dates of when Gothic style churches were built in the USA, probably around 1910 or so).

The wealth of the elite and the wealth of the rich should ultimately be judged by the general happiness of the common man on the street. Ruskin also advocated reading and the building of public libraries and wrote a moving essay on why one should read: included here.

Ruskin's life took some passionate twists. His mother had him memorize the Bible while his father inculcated a love for Byron in him. He proved a gifted artist and then studied geology at university. Then an attack by critics on a favored artist, Turner, lead him on an eighteen year quest to study art and explain why Turner is a great artist, writing volumes of popular art history and critiques while developing a love for Giotto and Dante on the way and becoming possibly the most widely read art critic the English-speaking world has ever produced. Then the economic debates rageing in his day between advocates of Smith's laissez-fair, Malthus, Ricardo, Mills, and Marx lead Ruskin to attack all of them and to point out why they all miss the point in some way. Ruskin's approach was organic given: time, place, and circumstances, but he does give models and examples for what good economics is. Ruskin was a great humanist, in general terms he had the heart and approach of a conservative but his results could be described as almost idealic liberalism -- echoing something of Plato's philosopher kings.

Ruskin's observations on the English language are also interesting; the hierarchy of words and the distancing of words from their right place and meaning due to English being a diverse language with Latin, Greek, French, and variety of Germanic dialects composing it.

In De Profundis, by Oscar Wilde, Wilde must have been profoundly influenced by Ruskin as Wilde expressed regret for not having taken up the moral causes of Ruskin and to have wasted his genius the way he did. Wilde seemed to say that the torch was passed to him and he dropped it. Read this book then De Profundis (which Wilde wrote, without the use of references as he was in prison), and I don't think there will be any doubt that Ruskin had a profound influence on Wilde as Wilde refers to Ruskin-esk themes throughout the book (letter). I think Waugh and Forester echo some Ruskin sentiments as well; Ruskin had a huge influence, well worth reading. ... Read more

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Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves ? and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives ? and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

How to appreciate art and life
This little book contains two essays from John Ruskin:"The nature of Gothic" and "The work of iron".
This book opened my eyes to the nature of different types of buildings and the nature of the art used to adorn them. What type of stone or metal was used and why were certain decorations were used in the work. I had previously given no thought to this. I will now look on ancient buildings as works of art.
In the last essay he explains the life giving properties of iron. How it gives life to the soil and the fact that it rusts, shows it is alive. I enjoyed his rant against how hideous iron rail fencing was around homes and how it was arrogant and saying that your property was so valuable that you were keeping everyone out. He points out that iron rail fencing is not good for any purpose. Ruskin had very srong political beliefs that come out in this work, he says that anyone benefitting from cheap labor is STEALING from those people that are not being paid for their work. That insight can be directed to us in the 21st century.
"The best art either represents the facts of its own day, or, if facts of the past, expresses them with accessaries of the time in which the work was done. All good art, representing past events, is therefore full of the most frank anachronism, and always ought to be. No painter has any business to be an antiquarian. We do not want his impressions of suppositions repecting things that are the past. We want his clear assertions respecting things present." (Page 45)

Beauty Remembered
Nietzsche said that with the death of the sacred, Beauty would continue, albeit accidentally.

Mr. John Ruskin, however, set his sights on an earlier age, developing six principles that could be applied to gothic beauty, and in so doing, in my eyes, set down the principles for Beauty in general.

The principles are:Rudeness, Changefulness, Naturalness, Grotesqueness, Rigidity and Redundancy.

In our post-industrial age, perhaps the most telling is the first, Rudeness.Mr. Ruskin defines Rudeness as the introduction of originality into a work at the expense of a polished, finished product.What, you may ask?That's not how I do it at work!Me either brother, but it's nice to know why nothing I produce is beautiful.

Which leads me to my next point concerning this little gem of a book.These principles can be applied, in my view, to Beauty in general, not just gothic.And it provides an interesting point of view with which to look at life.Suddenly, many of the 'best things' in life truly are free.

I had no real education in aesthetics before reading this book, and have now delved deeper into the subject because of it.

Maybe you will too.

Ruskin's sweatshop nightmare.
We are now living in John Ruskin's nightmare, an industrialized, sweatshop world of mass-produced, unnecessary goods.Victorian Ruskin (1819-1900) believed in the need for individual creative expression."You must either make a tool of the creature, or a man of him.You cannot make both.Men were not intended to work with the accuracy of tools, to be precise and perfect in all their actions. . . On the other hand, if you will make a man of the working creature, you cannot make him a tool.Let him but begin to imagine, to think, to try to do anything worth doing; and the engine-tuned precision is lost at once.Out come all his roughness, all his dulness, all his incapability;shame upon shame, failure upon failure, pause after pause:but out comes the whole majesty of him also" (pp. 14-15).Ruskin believed that we should never encourage the manufacture of any article not absolutely necessary.Anyone who purchases unnecessary goods is "a slave-driver."We should never demand an exact finish or perfection for its own sake, and we should never encourage imitation or copying of any kind, except for the sake of preserving records of great works (pp. 20-21).

Ruskin was not only an art critic, he was a social visionary who, with brilliant insight, examined nature, architecture, politics, history, and myth in his writing.This Penguin Great Ideas edition of Ruskin includes extracts from THE STONES OF VENICE (1853) and THE TWO PATHS (1859).

G. Merritt ... Read more

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Our Fathers Have Told Us - Part I. The Bible of Amiens is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by John Ruskin is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of John Ruskin then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

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No figure among the Victorians surpasses John Ruskin in magnitude of genius, modernity of message, or mastery of prose. Yet for the first half-century after his death in 1900, his genius lay largely undiscovered. First published in 1963, John D. Rosenberg's The Genius of John Ruskin aimed to make Ruskin's ideas and writings accessible to the modern reader, and it quickly became a classic. Long out of print, this important anthology is now available with a new foreword by Herbert F. Tucker and an expanded and updated bibliography by the author that takes into account recent Ruskin scholarship.

Customer Reviews (3)

Perfection of Seeing, Being, and Creating...
One can hardly read any thoughtful analysis or
evaluation of art, artists, even poets, without
coming upon a quote from John Ruskin.Yet one
may read the quote, realize its acuteness, but
then proceed on -- without really knowing anything
about John Ruskin himself, or about his ideas
and works. That is a tragic loss. Ruskin was an
English art critic and scholar, as well as a
cultural and philosphical historian who
lived from 1819 to 1900.
He attended and graduated from Oxford University,
and in 1869 was appointed first Slade Professor
of Fine Art at Oxford.
John Ruskin seems to me to be a combination of
Plato, godly Greek sculptors, and Thoreau.His
own senses, apparently (just like Thoreau's) were
extremely acute...he has incredible sharpness of
vision.But even more telling, he has incredible
command of vision and the language to express it
with.He seems, at times, like a Homer of artistic
cultural and philosophical expression.
This volume is a compilation of excerpts from
Ruskin's major writings: MODERN PAINTERS I, II,
III, IV, and V/ THE SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE/
THE STONES OF VENICE/ THE TWO PATHS/ UNTO THIS
LAST/ THE CROWN OF WILD OLIVE/ SESAME AND LILIES/
THE QUEEN OF THE AIR/ FORS CLAVIGERA/ FICTION, FAIR
AND FOUL/ THE STORM-CLOUD OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY/
and PRAETERITA. There are multiple excerpts from
each of these works, and each excerpt is followed
by a very helpful citation of the volume, part,
section, and chapter of the work where the excerpt
is found.
Ruskin is not "merely" an acute analyzer and
evaluator of art and architecture, but he also is
an artistic and ethical philosopher.His philosophy
seems to have a strong dose of PAGAN GREEK (Plato)
underpinning, which interacts interestingly with
the Evangelical Protestantism overlaid when he
was young by his mother's strict Bible lessons.
His whole life seems to have been a struggle
between these two grappling forces, like the

statue of "The Wrestlers" from Hellenistic times.
Ruskin idolized and glorified the painter
Joseph Mallord William Turner [J.M.W. Turner].
He seems to have set out on a crusade while still
a teen-ager (17) by writing an essay defending
Turner and his art -- his admiration, esteem,
and idolatry continued even after he had gone
to Oxford University and began writing his art
criticism works.
Ruskin's topics sound like a role-call of
classical virtues and perfection seeking -- and
like Thoreau, he bemoans the fact that more
people do not wake up, see intently, and live
better lives.I personally find Ruskin's admonitions
to be inspiring, rather than merely preachy.He
obviously has a vision (like a prophet), a wondrous
sense of beauty and appreciation, and a fine mind
and expressive ability which create words of golden
glow.Yet he also has a heart of reproof towards
the mercantilism of his times (in one speech he
tells his audience that they have two religions,
one which they pay lip-service and tithes to,
and the other religion of their practicality,
the one they actually live by -- and he says:
"...but we are all unanimous about this practical
one; of which I think you will admit that the ruling
goddess may be best generally described as the
'Goddess of Getting-on,' or 'Britannia of the
Market.'")
Some of the topic titles in the various sections
give one the flavor of his insights and vision:
"Definition of Greatness in Art"; "That the Truth
of Nature in Not to Be Discerned by the Uneducated
Senses"; "Of Truth of Space"; and "Of the Naturalist
Ideal."In his works on architecture, there are
such topic titles as "The Lamp of Truth" and "The
Lamp of Memory."
The editor of this volume, John D. Rosenberg, has
done a masterful, insightful job of presenting
Ruskin and his views -- and the Univ. Press of
Virginia have done a masterful job of printing
and binding those valuable views in an attractive
and valuable volume.

A Classic Anthology
Highly acclaimed anthology of John Ruskin, this book is made out of 39 vols Library Edition of John Ruskin's works, supported by 5 pillars--art, architecture, society, solitude and self and compiled chronologically.In the introduction, Herbert Tucker estimates this book as a classic anthology. It is followed by Rosenberg's preface, and before each section mentioned above is his own explanatory comment. This is extremely superb in style as well as contents. At the end of the book is a new bibliography, to some of which entries brief comments are added. As Ruskin's writings, especially those in early years, are not easy to read, this book is priceless. Among relatively rare entries are "Traffic" in The Clown of Wild Olive, "Athena Keramitis" in Queen of the Air, and "Essay I" in Fiction Fair and Foul. Compared with the previous anthology by Kenneth Clark, "Ruskin Today", this one is inferior in variety but far superior in amount. Now we have the Ruskin's Complete Works in one CD-ROM, but it cannot be read, say, in a train or bed unless printed out. Concisely selected, this book is, I think, quite valuable when kept by your side.

Rosenberg's Edition of Ruskin Remains Unchallenged
It is a great pity that the works of Ruskin are neither widely read nor widely available. One can only hope that the day will come when an affordable, comprehensive, multi-volume collection will become available.For now, we may be thankful for the work of Columbia University's JohnRosenberg, who has given us perhaps as fine an introduction to Ruskin ascan be hoped for. The selections are long and judiciously made, and theyaddress Ruskin in all important aspects of his work: art critic, socialheretic, autobiographer. This book is like a wise old friend, especiallycomforting in a world that has in so many ways departed from the valuesthat this volume enshrines. A faithful rendering of an indispensableauthor. ... Read more

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On the centenary of Ruskin's death, a biography that explores the genius of the romantic visionary and the anguish of the private man. A man of prodigious genius, the eminently Victorian John Ruskin ranged over the entire landscape of human knowledge, from botany and geology to art criticism and social theory. He championed the painter J. M. W. Turner, the poetry of Wordsworth, and Gothic architecture. He inspired Proust and Gandhi. Works like his incomparable Stones of Venice fathered a new generation of aesthetes, while his indictment of English industrialism in The Storm Cloud of the Nineteenth Century fathered the ethical socialists who would strive to establish a new political order for the working man. Not only does this probing new biography celebrate the literary career that made Ruskin one of the most influential cultural figures of his day, it also illuminates the darker side of an emotionally unstable man whose obsessive desires thwarted his marriage to Effie Gray and later - after the death of Rose La Touche, the young girl he loved consumingly - drove him to extended bouts with madness. No passion, though, could dim the blazing creative energy of the intelligence that reimagined England's social destiny, as this estimable, crisply detailed volume shows. "Attractively written and well-argued.... A shrewd summary of Ruskin's career and a balanced assessment of his major works." - Sunday Telegraph "The perfect condensed account of Ruskin's life." - Daily Telegraph; "An excellent short study, keenly alert to the social and political environments in which Ruskin found himself." - Guardian. ... Read more

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The first book on the Victorian critic and public intellectual John Ruskin by a scholar of religion and ethics, this work recovers both Ruskin's engaged critique of economic life and his public practice of moral imagination. With its reading of Ruskin as an innovative contributor to a tradition of ethics concerned with character, culture, and community, this book recasts established interpretations of Ruskin's place in nineteenth-century literature and aesthetics, challenges nostalgic diagnoses of the supposed historical loss of virtue ethics, and demonstrates the limitations of any politics that eschews common purpose as vital to individual agency and social welfare.

Although Ruskin's moralistic efforts did not always allow for democratic individuality, equality, and contestation, his eclecticism, Craig argues, helps to correct these problems. Further, Ruskin's interdisciplinary explorations of beauty, work, nature, religion, politics, and economic value reveal the ways in which his insights into the practical connections between aesthetics and ethics, and culture and character, might be applied to todayís debates about liberal modernity today.

With the triumph of global capitalism, and the near-silence of any opposing voice, Ruskinís model of an engaged reading of culture and his public practice of moral imagination deserve renewed attention. This book provides students in religion, politics, and social theory with a timely reintroduction to this timeless figure. ... Read more

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One of the most astonishingly versatile British writers of the 19th century, art critic JOHN RUSKIN (1819-1900) held a profound sway on European painting and architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries...but he was also a vital influence on the ideals of the later British Labour party, on Gandhi's peaceful revolution, and on our modern notions of charity and charitable organizations.In this 1862 collection of essays, Ruskin lays out his humanist theory of economics and calls for government intervention in the economy to serve values of social justice, of morality, and of higher aesthetics. Ahead of its time and still of great significance today, this is an inspiring vision of how government and culture might work together for the betterment of all._______________________ALSO FROM COSIMORuskin's Sesame and Lilies: Three Lectures ... Read more

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John Ruskin was the most powerful and influential art critic and social commentator of the Victorian nineteenth century. A true polymath, he wrote about nature, art, architecture, politics, history, myth and much more. All of his work is characterized by a clarity of vision as unsettling and intense now as it was for his first readers.
This new selection includes wide-ranging extracts of Ruskin's texts, from the early 1840s to the late 1880s, as well as representative material from each of his major works. Modern Painters, The Stones of Venice, and Sesame and Lilies are juxtaposed with less familiar writing on science and myth. An authoritative introduction outlines Ruskin's life and thought, making it clear why his writing is still relevant today. This new edition also includes a selection of Ruskin's own illustrations. ... Read more

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John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the most important critic of the last century and one of the period's greatest writers of English prose. He exercised an enormous influence not only on the theory but also on the practice of the arts, and by his powerful advocacy of Turner, the Pre-Raphaelites and the Gothic style decisively affected the course of British art and architecture. He was an exceedingly prolific writer, and the standard edition of his works runs to 38 volumes - a daunting prospect to the scholar and general reader alike. This book is designed to make available, in an easily accessible form, a generous selection of Ruskin's finest writings on painting, sculpture and architecture. It is arranged chronologically to show the development of his critical method, which in his time constituted a new and almost revolutionary approach to art. The reader will thus find in one volume the essence of Ruskin's teaching and his best appreciations of works of art. The illustrations are of works discussed by Ruskin in the text, and include some of his own drawings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A lovely reissue of an excellent collection--with plates!
Ruskin was "an encyclopedia with sideburns," as Anthony Lane put it. I'm going to assume you're looking for a good collection of his writings on art and architecture. This Phaidon selection is a reissue, with amendments, of a collection issued in 1959. This should not put people off. It is a very handsome volume with a high-quality feel, full of unusual features for this low price.

The short introduction was written in 1959, but is pleasant and servicable, and includes a brief biography. It also describes the thoughts behind the selections; specifically, the idea has been to present "Ruskin's own view of art." (For this reason, not many pages from The Stones of Venice have been published here, as it is viewed as "more factual and less personal.")

Whether you like the organisation of this book may depend on taste or reading habits. Some may find it hard to seek out specific passages, or get back to where they were without a system of bookmarks. The way the extracts are organised, chronologically from diverse sources, is unusual today, and makes it impossible to write a full table of contents. I should point out, however, that the index is very good. Add to this that every extract contains a precice citation, and the book becomes a very manageable place to start for Ruskin study. I got used to it quickly. As for the choice of selection, one puts oneself in the hands of the editor. Personally, I find the selections rewarding, and a good use of space, though I have very little grounds for judging whether things not included should have been, having previously read only The Stones of Venice and The Elements of Drawing.

The text pages, running to about 360, are printed on thin "onion skin" paper, which is what keeps the book slim. It might remind one of thumbing through scripture; it even smells the same. The 77 black-and-white plates, however, are printed on heavy semi-gloss paper, and are crisp and clear, an invaluable resource (there are referances to them throughout the text). The editors have added to the short bibliography with works on Ruskin published as late as 1991. It's a clean, handsome, slim-but-hefty softcover with dustjacket, and you'll look like you're reading a serious piece of work (which indeed you are). I was never embarrassed reading this tome on the subway.

Ultimately, if you are looking for a solid, portable selection on Ruskin's fine writing on art, this might be the best compromise out there. There are other selections of ruskin's writings, published by the major "Classics" publishers, and I'm sure readers will find satisfaction with those as well. This Phaidon volume, however, offers its own advantages; it's very slim for the sheer amount of extracts; the true, well-printed plates are a huge bonus; it concentrates on art and the arts (if you wish to read Ruskin's political writings, there are other collections out there); it is a beautiful production, with crisp text and good binding for a paperback; and it is competitively priced. It also has Phaidon caché. If you're looking for a portable Ruskin on art, this has my recommendation. It really should be better known. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Publisher: London Dent; Publication date: 1912; Subjects: Drawing; Perspective; Art / Techniques / Drawing; Art / Techniques / General; Juvenile Nonfiction / Art / Drawing; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

If you want to buy just one drawing book...
Make sure this is the one! I came across THE ELEMENTS OF DRAWING at the library on a random day, when I was a wayward 16/17-year-old (I am now 23). I had always wanted to draw, but found many of the drawing books to be not very useful/helpful (as the introduction states, in the "elements of drawing" copy/edition that I read).

Many modern how-to-draw books do not instill/nurture/teach/inspire one to develop their own artistic sense, and a keen observation/attention to detail, which are two things I managed to attain (and continue to attain), as a direct result of this splendid book by John Ruskin.

It's not an easy book to read -- in fact, I believe Ruskin himself states/warns in the beginning that some parts/activities will be quite tedious (such as the careful manual shading of gradients) -- he does say that if you really, really want to learn how to draw, you've got to be prepared to put your life into it (to that effect). He says something about having the diligence to put in 150-200 hours into learning how to draw (or how to do anything)...and since time = life, I guess that puts what he says into perspective.

John Ruskin's fine definition of drawing is as follows: "all art is but dirtying the paper delicately." I love the way he presented whatever he had to say/teach about art and drawing -- it's a real sharing/transference of knowledge.

Drawing's turned out to be a lifesaver for me. It's helped me to develop more confidence in myself and what I do...I'm very lucky to have had the good fortune to have been guided by THE ELEMENTS OF DRAWING.

P.S. I think I took a grand total of about 4-5 years to actually get through the book from cover to cover (I read it on and off from the time I was 17-22)...but I'm glad I took the time to gradually let my artistic senses develop.

[...]

tried to read several times but never been able to get through it
I admire several of Ruskin's drawings, and can appreciate his standing in the "art world".However, for the most part I find his work lacking the "big picture";without a clear focus on important aspects of composition and order.His drawings seem to be very detailed drawings (example: a side of a rocky mountain) without any clear focal point and only a vague sense of what the actual subject really is.

I have the same problem with his book.I have tried to read this book several times but have never been able to get through it, and have walked away without any real gain, and not for a lack of trying.It might be good for others. I noticed that everyone else gave it 5 stars so I felt the need to give a balanced view.

About The Book Jungle Edition of 2006
I adore this edition.

I'm always drawn to facsimile reprints and this is an excellent one: an oversized, 1.75 pound paperback with large print and an ample use of white space. And most delightful -- for me anyway -- is the fact that this is a very clear facsimile reprint of the George Allen edition of 1907 which, in itself, was a reprint of the most complete version of Ruskin's book: the 1859 edition.

There's only one modern addition: a helpful index.

Illustrated Edition with Notes by Bernard Dunstan - A Caveat
I am enjoying this book. I'm an experienced draftsman, but feel that following the exercises Ruskin outlines in his book are greatly improving my drawing skills. The Watson-Guptill Illustrated Edition, with Notes by Bernard Dunstan, has added a number of illustrations of the work of Ruskin and his contemporaries, which are very helpful. They have also added additional notes to the margins from Ruskin's other writings that offer additional explanations, also very valuable. However, the modern illustrations done especially for this edition seem to me to miss Ruskin's points and may confuse a novice draftsman. Most obviously, early exercises that Ruskin emphasizes are to be done with careful precision in pen and ink are illustrated with quick, loosely executed, pencil sketches. The patience, sensitivity, and craftsmanship that the exercises are designed to develop I find largely missing from the new illustrations created for the book. I still would highly recommend this edition, advising the reader to study the modern illustrations for content but cast a critical eye on their technique.

No frills tuition
I love this book. It's takes a no frills, 'no mercy' approach to teaching drawing. Surprisingly it has very few images but I find the text to be very readable. Written in the 1700's using the language of the time, it is at times very entertaining. It gives you instructions on the bare facts (including the pains required) on how to draw; in stark contrast to most current books which advocate the 'learn-to-draw-in-2-hours' approach. Indeed, Rusking is straight to the point enough to indicate the amount of time required to draw effectively - 160 hours! Ruskin was clearly a genius in the simple and effective approach on how he teaches drawing.

Written in the 1700's I found it to be a very fresh account and framework on how to draw in 2007!

Andrew Borg
[...]. ... 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; Architecture; ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Subjects: Conduct of lifeNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Excellent Edition of Sesame and Lilies
This is an excellent edition of John Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies, the best I have found.The editors have not gone footnote-crazy; there are fortunately few.Supplementary materials such as the intro, chronology and glossary are well done and interesting, and the critical essays included are varied and very much worth reading.This ed. is part of Yale's "Rethinking the Western Tradition" series, all of which are well done. ... 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: History / General; Art / Criticism; Biography ... Read more

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This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Second Thoughts are Best: Or a Further Improvement of a Late Scheme to Prevent Street Robberies is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Daniel Defoe is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Daniel Defoe then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more