INTRODUCTION xxxv

expect from him. Among even the most sympathetic, there was some disappointment at the comparative dryness of the theme. The author’s father was in that company, and had fears lest even the remaining volumes should be too stiff for the popular taste. Ruskin bade him wait for the completion of the book, and at the same time entered upon some explanations

which are of interest as showing the spirit in which the author had addressed himself to this Venetian work:-

VENICE, January 18, 1852.-I don’t think my powers are diminished; the only passages in the whole of The Stones of Venice [Vol. I.] which I finished as highly as I could are the opening page, the little bits about the Matterhorn in the 5th chapter, and the 17th paragraph of

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