Books

London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1860-69 First to Seventh Editions. Approximately 10 � inches tall. Five half green morocco leather bound volumes by Riviere, with marbled boards, gilt titles, top edges gilt, others untrimmed, marks and scratches to the spines, some damage to the corners. Scratches to the second compartment of Vol V, raised bands generally rubbed. Internally sporadically foxed see photos. Five volumes. Volume I Seventh Edition 1867, Parts I and II. Of General Principles and Of Truth, lxiii, [i], 423pp; Volume II Fifth Edition 1869, Part III. Sections I and II. Of the Imaginative and Theoretic Faculties, xvi, 224pp; Volume III Second Edition 1867, Part IV. OF Many Things, xix, [i], 348pp; Volume IV Second Edition 1868, Part V. Of Mountain Beauty, xii, 411pp; Volume V FIRST EDITION, 1860, Parts VI. Of Leaf Beauty, VII. Of Cloud Beauty, VIII. Of Ideas of Relation (Formal), IX. Of Ideas of Relation (Spiritual), xvi, 384pp. HANDSOME 19TH CENTURY GREEN HALF MOROCCO, raised bands, compartments with gilt rules and gilt titles. Volumes III-V each with frontispiece plus a total of 100 plates (a few in colour), steel and wood-engraved, and several wood-engraved illustrations in the text by the author, J. M. W. Turner, and others. 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 � inches tall. Condition Report Externally Spine fair to good condition gilt titles, five raised bands, marks and scratches, rubbed and worn. Joints good condition gently rubbed and worn. Corners fair to good condition bumped and worn, through to the board. Boards good condition leather quarters to marbled boards, some scratches and marks see photos. Page edges good condition top edge gilt, slightly darkened, remainder untrimmed, tanned and foxed. See above and photos. Internally Hinges good condition intact. Paste downs good condition marbled. End papers good condition marbled. Title good condition lightly tanned, some foxing. Pages good condition lightly tanned, some foxing, some a little heavy, illustrated to Vols III-V. Binding good condition. See photos Publisher: see above. Publication Date: 1860-69 Binding: Hardback.

This five-volume work argued that art should focus on depicting nature with truth and sincerity.