The Worlds of John Ruskin

Kevin Jackson is a Visiting Professor at University College London; he has produced scores of television and radio programmes for the BBC, been the Assistant Arts Editor of The Independent, and has written over 30 books, including A Ruskin Alphabet and two comic books based on Ruskin's essays. Pallas Athene also published his collected essays Carnal and his last book Coles to Jerusalem: A Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Rev. Richard Coles.

INTRODUCTION 9
AN AGE OF SUPERLATIVES 12
The darker side 15
1819-30: EDEN IN SOUTH LONDON 19
Infant years 19 — Move to Herne Hill 21 — Precocious writings 23
1830-40: STUDIES AND FIRST LOVE 27
The national background 27 — Ruskin at home and travelling 27 —
Oxford 31 — Work 33— Illness 35
RUSKIN AND ART ONE: TURNER AND NATURE 36
1840-50: THE AUTHOR OF MODERN PAINTERS 39
First travels alone 43 — Marriage 48 — Mr & Mrs Ruskin in Venice 53
RUSKIN AND ARCHITECTURE 58
1850-60: ARCHITECTURE AND ADULTERY 63
The Stones of Venice 63 — The Scottish Summer 67 — The Nature of Gothic 70 —
Enter Morris 71 — Ruskin’s Un-Conversion 77
RUSKIN AND SOCIETY 80
1860-70: THE PROPHET AND HIS SORROWS 83
Rose La Touche: One 83 — Unto This Last 84 — Rose Again 91
RUSKIN AND ART TWO: CRITICISM AS AUTOBIOGRAPHY 98
1870-80: THE PROFESSOR 101
Fors Clavigera 103 — Brantwood 106 — Enter Wilde 113 —
The Death of Rose 114 — Enter Whistler 118
RUSKIN AND THE NATURAL WORLD 120
1880-90: LONELY EMINENCE 125
The Bible of Amiens 125 — The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century 131 — Praeterita 133
1890-1900 AND BEYOND 137
Fin de siècle 137 — The long silence 137 — William Morris: final years 140 —
Pilgrims and disciples 141 — 1900 142 — Legacy: tributes 143; Leo Tolstoy 143;
Mahatma Gandhi 144; Marcel Proust 144 — Labour politics 145 —
The Great Decline 145 — John Howard Whitehouse 146 — Revivals 147
WHAT NOW? 150
Brantwood 150 — Ruskin Museum 150 — Ruskin Library 150 —
Ruskin Society 150 — The Guild of St George 151 —
Ruskin Today 151 — Websites 151
RECOMMENDED READING 152
SOURCES 153
ILLUSTRATIONS 153
INDEX 155