Of Vulgarity (Ruskin Treasuries) by John Ruskin

George Allen. Good. 1906 first edition thus, George Allen (London), 2 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches tall limp red leather bound, no dust jacket (as issued), gilt design and lettering to front cover and spine, all page edges gilt, ribbon marker sewn in, title page printed in red, 57 pp. plus publisher's ads. Slight soiling, rubbing and edgewear to covers, which are very slightly warped. Charming 1907 prior owner gift inscription to blank front free-endpaper. Otherwise, a very good to near fine copy - clean, bright and unmarked - of this scarce compilation of writings on vulgarity by prominent 19th century social thinker John Ruskin (1819-1900). OCLC (No. 223245353) locates only one copy at institutions worldwide - at the State Library of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia. ~T~ Ruskin, the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, as well as an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist and philanthropist, 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. Ruskin also penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. The elaborate style that characterized his earliest writing on art was later superseded by a preference for plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasized the connections between nature, art and society. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and architectural structures and ornamentation. He was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century, and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognized as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.