Books

FOURTH EDITION THUS. Complete in six volumes, leather bound, hardcover, octavo (19.5 x 12.5cm), pp. lxxii, 456; xxviii, 285; xvi, 365; xii, 435; xvi, 392; [8], 429. English text, with numerous illustrations throughout. Beautifully bound in burgundy full crushed morocco by Hatchards, all page edges gilt, marbled endpapers, half-titles, full-page plates and in text drawings, footnotes, additional notes and index. Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. Condition: VERY GOOD. Bindings tight and secure. Covers very well-preserved. Some very light spotting mostly confined to paged edges and endpapers. A handsome set. Notes: A handsome and complete set of the small format octavo edition, consisting: Volume I: Of General Principles, and of Truth (fourth edition thus); Volume II: Of the Imaginative and Theoretic Faculties (fourth edition thus); Volume III: Of Many Things (fourth edition thus); Volume IV: Of Mountain Beauty (fourth edition thus); Volume V: Of Leaf Beauty - Of Cloud Beauty - Of Ideas of Relation (fourth edition thus); Volume VI: General Index, Bibliography, and Notes (third edition thus). In this work Ruskin studies the art of modern painters. One argument he presents in Modern Painters is that the recent picturesque painters were superior in landscapes than the old masters. The second volume was influential in the early days of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, with Ruskin's discussion on symbolism in art expressed through nature.

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