Ruskin connects his theories of art with economic and practical life. He contends that content artists who strive to capture nature will produce fine art, while despondent artists who rely on tools of the machine age will produce inferior art.

This fresh look at the Arts and Crafts Movement charts its origins in reformist ideals, its engagement with commercial culture, and its ultimate place in everyday households.

This book assesses Ruskin’s and Turner’s mutual interest in the theme of water, with particular reference to The Harbours of England (1856), Ruskin’s book on ships and marine art to which are appended Turner’s 12 illustrations of the English ports. By considering existing scholarly works on Ruskin and Turner, the book begins by demonstrating that the two, despite their widely acknowledged relations, have rarely been examined in conjunction. It raises the question as to how the subject of water inspired the intellectual, aesthetic, philosophical, and scientific climate of the nineteenth century, both in Britain and abroad, and acknowledges the significance of the relationship between Ruskin and Turner in the context of aquatic studies. Ruskin’s childhood fascination with water is examined in detail, while the scientific and spiritual importance of the subject in Modern Painters and The Stones of Venice is also emphasised and read in parallel with The Harbours of England, a detailed account of which is given, referring to both text and illustrations. Turner’s role in Ruskin’s understanding of specific water-pictures is also reconstructed. The book demonstrates that water is important as a multifaceted compendium of contemporary themes, for tradition, progress, nationalism, and patriotism find their iconography in its depiction. Considering the literary and painterly implications of wateriness, the text concludes with a reflection upon the significance of the study of water for Ruskin and Turner, and for their age.

This groundbreaking new source of international scope defines the essay as nonfictional prose texts of between one and 50 pages in length. The more than 500 entries by 275 contributors include entries on nationalities, various categories of essays such as generic (such as sermons, aphorisms), individual major works, notable writers, and periodicals that created a market for essays, and particularly famous or significant essays. The preface details the historical development of the essay, and the alphabetically arranged entries usually include biographical sketch, nationality, era, selected writings list, additional readings, and anthologies