The Stones Of Venice
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Very good
Jacket: Slipcase: Good
Pages: Good
Few works in the history of art criticism have reshaped Western thought as profoundly as The Stones of Venice, John Ruskin's monumental survey of Venetian architecture and its moral dimensions. Published originally between 1851 and 1853, this magisterial text chronicles the rise and fall of Venice through the lens of its buildings, arguing with passionate conviction that architecture is a direct expression of a society's spiritual and ethical health. Ruskin presents Gothic architecture as the pinnacle of human creative endeavour — organic, honest, and alive — while condemning the cold perfection of Renaissance classicism as symptomatic of a civilisation in moral decline. Beyond its architectural analysis, The Stones of Venice stands as one of the great works of Victorian prose, rich with lyrical description and polemical force that influenced figures as diverse as William Morris, Marcel Proust, and the entire Arts and Crafts movement. This Folio Society edition, edited and introduced by Jan Morris — herself one of the finest writers on Venice — distils Ruskin's vast three-volume opus into an authoritative and beautifully curated text, making it accessible to a new generation of readers. Whether one approaches it as a work of art history, social criticism, or sublime travel writing, the question Ruskin poses — what does the way we build say about who we are? — remains as urgent and unanswered as ever.
Author: John Ruskin
Format: Hardback
Published: 2001, The Folio Society
Genre: Architecture
Condition remarks:
Book: Very good
Jacket: Slipcase: Good
Pages: Good
Few works in the history of art criticism have reshaped Western thought as profoundly as The Stones of Venice, John Ruskin's monumental survey of Venetian architecture and its moral dimensions. Published originally between 1851 and 1853, this magisterial text chronicles the rise and fall of Venice through the lens of its buildings, arguing with passionate conviction that architecture is a direct expression of a society's spiritual and ethical health. Ruskin presents Gothic architecture as the pinnacle of human creative endeavour — organic, honest, and alive — while condemning the cold perfection of Renaissance classicism as symptomatic of a civilisation in moral decline. Beyond its architectural analysis, The Stones of Venice stands as one of the great works of Victorian prose, rich with lyrical description and polemical force that influenced figures as diverse as William Morris, Marcel Proust, and the entire Arts and Crafts movement. This Folio Society edition, edited and introduced by Jan Morris — herself one of the finest writers on Venice — distils Ruskin's vast three-volume opus into an authoritative and beautifully curated text, making it accessible to a new generation of readers. Whether one approaches it as a work of art history, social criticism, or sublime travel writing, the question Ruskin poses — what does the way we build say about who we are? — remains as urgent and unanswered as ever.