The Works of John Ruskin Modern Painters II

The influence of John Ruskin (1819–1900), both on his own time and on artistic and social developments in the twentieth century, cannot be over-stated. He changed Victorian perceptions of art, and was the main influence behind 'Gothic revival' architecture. As a social critic, he argued for the improvement of the condition of the poor, and against the increasing mechanisation of work in factories, which he believed was dull and soul-destroying. The thirty-nine volumes of the Library Edition of his works, published between 1903 and 1912, are themselves a remarkable achievement, in which his books and essays - almost all highly illustrated - are given a biographical and critical context in extended introductory essays and in the 'Minor Ruskiniana' - extracts from letters, articles and reminiscences both by and about Ruskin. This fourth volume contains volume 2 of Modern Painters.

Introduction to Vol. 4; Bibliographical note; Preface to the re-arranged edition (1883); Synopsis of contents; Part I. Modern Painters Vol. II (Containing the Text of All the Editions); Section 1. Of the Theoretic Faculty: 1. Of the rank and relations of the theoretic faculty; 2. Of the theoretic faculty as concerned with pleasures of sense; 3. Of accuracy and inaccuracy in impressions of sense; 4. Of false opinions held concerning beauty; 5. Of typical beauty; 6. Of unity; 7. Of repose; 8. Of symmetry; 9. Of purity; 10. Of moderation; 11. General inferences respecting typical beauty; 12. Of vital beauty; 13. Of generic vital beauty; 14. Of vital beauty in man; 15. General conclusions respecting the theoretic faculty; Section 2. Of the Imaginative Faculty: Author's introductory note (1883); 1. Of the three forms of imagination; 2. Of imagination associative; 3. Of imagination penetrative; 4. Of imagination contemplative; 5. Of the superhuman ideal; Part II: Addenda (1848); Epilogue (1883); Appendix.

This fourth volume of the magisterial Library Edition (1903-1912) of the works of John Ruskin contains volume 2 of Modern Painters.