Ruskin MP I Notes

Bibliographical Note from Works

[ Bibliographical Note .-The bibliography of Modern Painters falls under three heads, dealing respectively with (1) editions of separate volumes; (2) editions of the whole work; (3) selections from it. The separate editions of the other volumes will be dealt with in each of them.

SEPARATE EDITIONS OF VOLUME I

Volume I.- First Edition (1843).-For title-page of this, see above, p. xxxi

Large crown 8vo, pp. xxxi.+420. The title-page of this and all subsequent editions had the quotation from Wordsworth (as on the title-page here). On p. v. was the Dedication, "To the Land-scape Artists of England." Issued (price 12s.) in green (or purple) cloth boards; lettered on the back with the words, "Modern Painters Their Superiority in The Art of Landscape Painting to the Ancient Masters"; this title was enclosed in the device (here reproduced) of two trees, a lake, and the setting sun, which figured in all subsequent editions of the book, up to and including that of 1873. The larger sized page and familiar pale green binding was not adopted until vol. ii. and the third edition of vol. i., both of which appeared in 1846. No illustrations.

Second Edition (1844).-Title-page identical with first edition, except that the date is altered, and the words "Second Edition" are added below the quotation.

The new preface (here pp. 7-52) caused the introductory matter to increase to pp. lxxxviii., and the revision of sec. vi. ch. iii. (see here, pp. 625-626) caused the other pages to number 423. Otherwise the revisions of the text were very slight. A slip, containing the following list of Errata, was inserted after the title-page:-

Page xxxiii., 1.8 from bottom, for ε τ ι ρ ε ν, read ε τ ε ρ ε ν.
" xxvii, 1. 2, for Greeks, read Greek.
" lx., 1.8, for neglected, read solitary.
" 122, 1.9 from bottom, for us, read as.
" 329, 1.6 from bottom, for water, read matter.

Issued in cloth boards, of dark slaty-blue colour.

Third Edition (1846).-This was issued soon after ed. 1 of vol. ii., and conformed to the larger page adopted for the latter-viz. Imperial 8vo (as in all later editions). The title-page was altered, thus:-

pp. lxii.+422. New preface (here, pp. 52-53). The text was largely revised (see above, p. xlv.). Issued (Sept. 16, 1846) in pale green cloth boards. This and all later volumes were lettered simply, "Modern Painters, Volume I., II." etc. The price was raised to 18s. "Made-up sets," i.e. third eds. of vols. i. and ii., and first eds. of vols. iii., iv., and v., have in recent years been sold in the auction rooms at prices ranging, partly according to condition, from £31 (1887) to £15 (1902).

Fourth Edition (1848).-Except for the alteration of date and number of edition on the title-page, and omission of the Preface to the Third Edition, this edition was substantially identical with the last; variations in the text were few and unimportant.

Fifth Edition (1851).-This edition was the first to bear the author's name, though the authorship had already been publicly avowed, for The Seven Lamps of Architecture, issued in 1849, was "by John Ruskin, author of Modern Painters." The title-page was:-

The text was again largely revised, and a Postscript on the death of Turner was added (here, p. 631). Issued in Sept. 1851.

Sixth Edition (1857).-The same as the Fifth, except for alteration of date and number of edition on the title-page.

Seventh Edition (1867).-The same as the Fifth, except for similar alterations, and for the addition on the title-page of the letters "M.A." after the author's name, and of these words at the foot: "The author reserves the right of translation."

This was the last separate edition of volume i. For bibliographical notes on separate editions of volumes ii. iii. iv. and v., see those volumes severally.

EDITIONS OF THE WHOLE WORK

New Edition (1873).-Generally known as the Autograph Edition, from the fact of the new preface (here, p. 54) being signed by the author. The title-pages were as follow:-

Modern Painters. | Volume IV. | Containing Part V. | Of Mountain Beauty. By John Ruskin, LL.D. | etc., etc.

The collation is:-vol. i. pp. lxiii.+423; vol. ii. pp. xvi.+224; vol. iii. pp. xix.+348; vol. iv. pp. xii.+411; vol. v. pp. xvi.+384. In volume i. of this edition is added a preface limiting the edition to a thousand copies, and signed by the author's own hand. Beyond this the work is a reprint without alteration from the last editions of the different volumes of the work. Issued (on June 26, 1873) in pale green cloth boards, similar to those of the previous editions of separate volumes. The published price of the five volumes was Eight Guineas. Sets have in recent years been sold in the auction rooms at prices ranging, partly according to condition, from £19 (1889) to £6, 12s. 6d. (1902).

To vol. ii. as to vol. i. there were no illustrations. Vol. iii. contained a frontispiece and 17 plates; vol. iv., a frontispiece and Plates 18-50; vol. v. a frontispiece and Plates 51-100. Several wood-cuts were also given in vols. iii. to v. Particulars of the illustrations are in this edition given in the Introductions and Bibliographical Notes to those volumes. The plates added in this edition to vols. i. and ii. are not numbered (on the plates) in order to preserve the author's numbering in the later volumes. In the "Autograph Edition" of 1873, all the illustrations were printed from the original plates.

That edition included at the end of vol. v. three indices to the whole work, first given in the separate issue of vol. v. (1860), viz. Local Index, Index to Painters and Pictures, and Topical Index.

Complete Edition ( 1888 ).-This was the first edition published by Mr. George Allen, instead of by Messrs, Smith, Elder & Co. With the exception of this alteration, of the altered date, and of "Complete Edition" for "A New Edition," the wording of the title-pages was the same as those of the 1873 edition, except (further) that the author was now described as "John Ruskin, LL.D., Honorary Student of Christ Church, and Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford". The title of each volume was enclosed within a plain ruled frame. The collation is:-vol. i. pp. lxiii.+425; vol. ii. pp. xxvii.+264; vol. iii. pp. xix.+351; vol. iv. pp. xii.+420; vol. v. pp. xvi.+364. Each volume contained "Additional Notes" at the end, these being derived from Frondes Agrestes (see below), the rearranged edition of vol. ii. (see Bibliographical Note to next vol. of this edition), In Montibus Sanctis and Cœli Enarrant (see below). The fifth volume contained three additional plates (see Bibliographical Note to that vol.) and an Epilogue by the author dated "Chamouni, Sunday, September 16, 1888." Three of the original plates (Nos. 12, "The Shores of Wharfe," 73, "Loire Side," and 74, "The Millstream") had been destroyed. They were reproduced for this edition from early proofs of those originally etched by the author's own hand. Nine other plates were re-engraved, viz.:-

Originally engraved by

Re-engraved by

Plate

14.

The Lombard Apennine

T. Lupton

G. Allen.

"

15.

St. George of the Seaweed

"

"

"

12A

The Shores of Wharfe

"

"

"

49.

Truth and Untruth of Stones

"

C.A. Tomkins.

"

52.

Spirals of Thorn

R.P. Cuff

G. Cook.

"

58.

Branch Curvature

"

"

"

68.

Monte Rosa: Sunset

J.C. Armytage

"

"

80.

Rocks at Rest

"

"

"

81.

Rocks in Unrest

"

"

Several of the original plates were retouched by Mr. George Allen or his son, Mr. Hugh Allen. The "Complete Edition" was in other respects a reprint of that of 1873, with no alterations of text, except in the case of wrong references or obvious errors. The prefaces and one or two other passages were divided into numbered sections for the sake of the references in the index volume (see below); the indices given at the end of vol. v. in the 1873 edition were not reprinted. The edition was issued (on May 9, 1889) in brown cloth boards. Two thousand copies were printed, the price being Six Guineas the set of five volumes; also 450 Large-Paper copies (on Whatman's hand-made paper) at Ten Guineas; these latter were issued (Jan. 31, 1889) in green cloth, the steel engravings being on India paper.

With this edition was issued an index volume (by Mr. A. Wedderburn). The following are extracts from the Prefatory Note:-

"The present volume, though issued with Mr. Ruskin's sanction, has been compiled without reference to him, and he is, therefore, in no way responsible for it.

"The references used in the index will be found equally applicable to all the editions of the different volumes of the work. The old index hitherto contained in the fifth volume of Modern Painters is omitted from the 'Complete Edition,' but embodied in the present index, though not always under quite the same headings....

"A bibliography of Modern Painters, and a collation of the main differences between the various editions, are placed at the end of the volume, and will, it is believed, be valued by collectors and students of Mr. Ruskin's works."

The collation is pp. vii.+316. The price of the volume was 14s.; and (uniform with the large-paper copies), 21s.

(An account of the "Complete Edition" of 1888, with various details supplied by Mr. George Allen, appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette, Feb. 1, 1889, and was reprinted in E. T. Cook's Studies in Ruskin, 1890, pp. 196-200.)

Second Complete Edition (1892).-This was a reprint of the foregoing; price Five (now Four) Guineas the set of five volumes; index volume, 14s. (now 10s.).

[ New Edition in small form (1897).-This was similar in all respects to the Complete Editions of 1888 and 1892, except that the size was crown 8vo, and that the plates were correspondingly reduced. The price of the five volumes was 37s., and index volume, 5s. The volumes were, however, sold separately, and they were reprinted as required. Vols. i. and ii. (sold together) were reprinted in 1898, 1900, vol. iii., in 1898, 1901; vol. iv., in 1898, 1902; vol. v., in 1898, 1902; the index volume in 1898 (with some revision).