John Ruskin Papers, 1870-1909, bulk 1873-1900

Summary

Creators:

Ruskin, John, 1819-1900.

Abstract:

This collection contains approximately 874 pieces of correspondence and manuscripts chiefly related to English author John Ruskin (1819-1900) and his career as a writer, professor, and art critic. A large portion of the collection is made up of correspondence between Ruskin and his friend Susan Beever (1805-1893); letters from Beever to Albert Fleming, an editor and close friend of Ruskin; and letters and documents of and addressed to Fleming regarding the publication of a selection of the Ruskin-Beever letters. Other correspondents include George Allen, Sir Edward Cook, Frederick Furnivall, and Alexander Wedderburn.

Extent:

Approximately 874 items in 9 boxes

Language:

English.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains approximately 874 pieces of correspondence and manuscripts chiefly related to English author John Ruskin (1819-1900) and his career as a writer, professor, and art critic. A large portion of the collection is made up of approximately 500 pieces of correspondence from Ruskin and his friend Susan Beever, circa 1870-1870 (JR 1-526). In these letters, Ruskin talks about his writings, ideas and thoughts, and health. There are also approximately 230 letters, dating from 1887 to 1893, from Beever to Albert Fleming, an editor and close friend of Ruskin, that primarily discuss Beever's everyday life, her neighbors on Coniston Water, and news about Ruskin. The letters from Beever to Fleming were written during her last illness, with a few letters from others regarding her death (JR 555-753). In addition, there are approximately 150 letters and documents of and addressed to Albert Fleming, dated 1887 to 1893, regarding the publication of a selection of the Ruskin letters to Beever by George Allen under the title Hortus Inclusus, with corrected proof sheets for the 1902 revised edition. Pen-and-ink sketches are included in items JR 15, 138, 246, 257, 341, 356. There is also a poem by Ruskin, "Last Added Stanzas to Dame Wiggins of Lee" (JR 494).

Other correspondents include George Allen, Edward Clayton, Sir Edward Cook, Frederick Furnivall and Alexander Wedderburn.

Persons represented by five or more pieces

• Allen, George 25 pieces
• Allen, Grace 5 pieces
• Beever, Susan 230 pieces
• Brown, John 14 pieces
• Cook, Sir Edward Tyas 6 pieces
• Fleming, Albert 21 pieces
• Mackrell, H. Perceval 9 pieces
• Powell, R. 18 pieces
• Ruskin, John 536 pieces
• Wedderburn, Alexander Dundas Ogilvy 9 pieces

Biographical / historical:

John Ruskin (1819-1900), an English critic of art, architecture, and society, as well as an artist and a teacher, was born February 8, 1819, in London, England. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1843. After gaining wide recognition as an author, artist, and social reformer, he moved from London to Brantwood, Coniston Water, in 1872, where he remained until his death. In 1873, Ruskin met Susan Beever (1805-1893), and they became close friends, writing each other almost every day about their shared interests in nature, art and a love for animals; in 1887, Albert Fleming edited and published a selection of these letters. Their voluminous correspondence was carried on until Beever's death in 1893.

Ruskin was elected first Slade Professor of Art at Oxford in 1870 and held the post until 1878 and then again from 1883 to 1884. From 1878 until his death, Ruskin was plagued with recurring brain attacks. He made many trips abroad, several in an attempt to cure himself of his ilness.

However, by 1889 his literary career was at an end. Ruskin died January 20, 1900, and was buried at Coniston beside Beever.

Acquisition information:

Purchased from Goodspeed's, September, 1923.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged alphabetically by author.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Note:

Finding aid last updated on November 20, 2015.

Related resources

Related material:

• Susanna Beever letters (mssHM 62832-62915)
• Francis Bennoch letters (mssBE 1-291). BE 206-213 consist of Ruskin's letters to Bennoch, [c. 1850]-1860.
• Browning, Robert. Letter to John Ruskin. 1865 February 24 (mssHM 4996)
• The Elements of Drawing (72948). Corrected galleyproofs chiefly in Ruskin's hand.
• Eliza Fall Papers (mssHM 42764-42816). Contains many contemporary references to John Ruskin.
• Frederick James Furnivall correspondence (mssFU 1-983). Includes 19 letters from Ruskin to Furnivall, 1855-1878 (FU 776-794).
• William Holman Hunt letters (mssHH 1-593). Includes 3 letters from William Holman Hunt to Ruskin, dated 1857-1889 (mssHH 206-208), 6 letters from Ruskin to Marion Edith Hunt, 1882-1886 (mss HH 525-530), 33 letters from Ruskin to William Holman Hunt, dated [1852]-1886 (mssHH 531-563), and a fragment of an essay by Ruskin, "Realistic Schools of Painting: D.G. Rossetti and W. Holman Hunt" (mssHH 3).
• Larkin, J. R. Letter to John Ruskin. [1865?] (mssHM 7087)
• William Morris papers (mssMOR 1-611)
• Mary Richardson travel diaries (mssHM 41910-41914).
• John Ruskin and Louise Blandy papers (mssHM 57251-57339)
• John Ruskin letters to Mary Buckland (mssHM 57241-57250)
• John Ruskin letters to George Richardson (mssHM 57225-57240)
• John Ruskin Collection (mssHM 6097-6129; mssHM 7587-7622, etc.)
• Ruskin, John. Hortus Inclusus (298058).Includes mss. revisions for the third edition and letters of Ruskin to Mary and Susan Beever.
• Ruskin, John. To Charles Kent. 1867, November (mssHM 18743) with Dickens, Charles. A Souvenir of Charles Dickens’ Last Visit to America (mssHM 18584-18746)
• Ruskin, John. To John Dillon. [1855, January] (HM 24179) bound in "Letters and notes on Turner's Liber Studiorim" (mssHM 24173-74, etc.)

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Art critics -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Archives.
Drawings -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
Manuscripts -- Great Britain -- 19th century.

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Location of this collection:

Huntington Library, Manuscript Collections

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, CA 91108, US

Contact:

(626) 405-2191

reference@huntington.org

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