Book Description

"Three Letters and an Essay by John Ruskin..." is a collection of the earliest writings of the famed English author of the 19th century, as given by his former tutor. "In the days when the Rev. Thomas Dale had a school in Grove Lane, Camberwell, he was, as well as a schoolmaster, a poet, author, and preacher. In 1835 he was presented to the living of St. Bride's, Fleet Street; in 1843, to a Canonry of St. Paul's; and he died in 1870, shortly after accepting the Deanery of Rochester. Amongst his papers were some writings of John Ruskin, his pupil in Grove Lane and, later, at King's College. The earliest of these is an essay written the year before Mr. Ruskin went to Oxford; the others are letters from Rome, Lausanne, and Leamington. The interest of these papers is great. They belong to that period when Mr. Ruskin was trying his powers, when (his famed book) "Modern Painters" was taking form, and when some of the most perfect pieces of prose ever written were given to English readers. The hand of the master is very visible in all these papers, though the earliest of them belongs to the days of boyhood."