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Summary
Author: Ruskin, John
Title: Two letters concerning "Notes on the construction of sheepfolds", addressed to the Rev. F.D. Maurice, M.A., in 1851 ... with forewords by F.J. Furnivall.
Publication: London, printed for private distribution only 1890.
Price: £490
Reference: 02690
Full Description
8vo. 30 + (2)pp. Orig boards. Ownership inscription of Sir Edward Tyas Cook, editor of Ruskin's collected works, on front free endpaper, with date Jan 1891.
The rare first printing of Ruskin's side of a correspondence between him and the liberal theologian F.D. Maurice in March and April 1851, arising from Ruskin's then recently published pamphlet on "the construction of sheepfolds" (the sheepfolds of the title are metaphorical, Ruskin's primary aim being to explore "the scriptural language of condemnation"). The letters shed light on Ruskin's processes of thought and religious beliefs, and their publication is also of considerable bibliographical interest, this being an unauthorised piracy of copyright material, apparently printed in an edition of 44 copies only, as a venture of the collector T.J. Wise. Of these 44 copies, described as "not for sale", four are asserted to have been printed on vellum, and the remaining forty were on paper, as the present copy.