Ruskin, John, 1819–1900, Letter to Thomas Goff Lupton, [1855?] December 6
- Call Number:
- MSS 5
- Holdings:
- [Request]
- Creator:
- Ruskin, John, 1819–1900
- Title(s):
- Letter to Thomas Goff Lupton
- Date:
- [1855?] December 6
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Series:
- Series I: Dated letters
- Part of Collection:
- 1, folder 19
- Provenance:
- Paul Mellon Collection.
- Conditions Governing Access:
- The materials are open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- Copyright UndeterminedThe collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Archives Department.
- Scope and Content:
- Ruskin writes to Lupton at Russell Square. The letter is dated "Dec 6" although preserved with an envelope stamped "April" of 1855 or 1856. He refers to a plate that he has titled and directs Lupton to send it to Mr. Armytage for lettering. He says, of another plate, that he needs not touch it "for it wants much lightening." He specifies the changes he wants Lupton to make to the plate, pointing to lights "behind the church" and asking Lupton to follow "the <emph render="underline">shapes</emph> in the drawing." He remarks that Lupton needs to make some particular marks "look fasting into mere lines. Yours look all as if they had over-ate themselves--throw them all into a consumption." Ruskin adds a rough illustration to show what he intends. He follows with more specifications about lightening the image, and then tells Lupton, "When all this is done--<emph render="underline">Bring</emph> it out to me. I want a talk with you about next subject..." The letter appears unfinished, or closes abruptly, as Ruskin apparently meant to write on the last verso, but had unknowingly used for Lupton's letter the reverse of a letter already begun to a Mr. Le Keux. Ruskin scrawls, "I beg pardon didn't know of this" on this page, as though making apologies to Lupton. The letter to Le Keux is scratched out, but refers to other engravings, some depicting windmills and mountains. Le Keux engraved plates for Ruskin's fourth volume of <title render="italic">Modern Painters</title>, published in 1856, which likely dates the Lupton letter to 1855.
- Physical Description:
- 4 p. (1 folded leaf) ; 18 x 23 cm. + envelope. Written in pen and black ink.
- Genre:
- Correspondence and Letters
- Subject Terms:
- ArtistsEngraversEngravingEtchersEtchingIllustration of booksMezzotint engraving
- Subject Period:
- 19th century
- Associated Places:
- Great Britain
- Associated People/Groups:
- Boys, Thomas Shotter, 1803-1874Gambart, Ernest, 1814-1902Haydon, Benjamin Robert, 1786-1846Lupton, Nevil Oliver, ca. 1830-1915Lupton, Thomas Goff, 1791-1873Lupton, Thomas, 1821-1910Ruskin, John, 1819-1900Turner, J. M. W. (Joseph Mallord William), 1775-1851
- Finding Aid Title:
- John Ruskin: Letters to Thomas Goff Lupton
- Collection PDF:
- https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/22.pdf
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/3204
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3204?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1