The Works of John Ruskin

The influence of John Ruskin (18191900) both on his own time and on artistic and social developments in the twentieth century cannot be over-stated. He changed Victorian perceptions of art and was the main influence behind ''Gothic revival'' architecture. As a social critic he argued for the improvement of the condition of the poor and against the increasing mechanisation of work in factories which he believed was dull and soul-destroying. The thirty-nine volumes of the Library Edition of his works published between 1903 and 1912 are themselves a remarkable achievement in which his books and essays - almost all highly illustrated - are given a biographical and critical context in extended introductory essays and in the ''Minor Ruskiniana'' - extracts from letters articles and reminiscences both by and about Ruskin. This fourth volume contains volume 2 of Modern Painters.