xxxiv INTRODUCTION

one of the two most stately monuments of Ruskin’s genius. None of his other books contains passages of richer eloquence; and of all, it is the most orderly in treatment. The analyses, and arrangements, and classifications, and definitions in which this volume abound are very characteristic of the man. He loved putting a subject, or a room, in order;

and got the latter untidy again very quickly. The same fate sometimes overtook his literary arrangements; but The Stones of Venice is orderly and methodical throughout. That the foundations should be well and truly laid is essential to any great work; but the foundations, even of the noblest pile, lose some of their attractiveness apart from the superstructure. Moreover, the foundations are not the place for ornament; and this first volume has few of the purple patches which Ruskin’s readers had come to

[Version 0.04: March 2008]