John Ruskin letters to Thomas Goff Lupton, 1845-1873.

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John Ruskin letters to Thomas Goff Lupton, 1845-1873.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702204042

The collection comprises 65 letters sent by John Ruskin to Thomas Goff Lupton from 1850 to 1873, with much of the correspondence concerning Lupton's engravings for Ruskin's Modern painters and The harbours of England. It also includes one letter to Lupton from Benjamin Haydon, sent in 1845. The scope of Ruskin's letters includes the professional and the personal. Ruskin appears to have been in close communication with Lupton about the engraving and printing of images for his books during the 1850s. In particular, the two men's connection to J.M.W. Turner, who had died in 1851, prompted their collaboration on works that sought to bring Turner's landscapes and other art into print. Ruskin's letters to Lupton reveal a very close working relationship, with both men working on plates at different stages, and sending plates and proofs back and forth to one another. Ruskin is anxious for perfection throughout, and frequently chides Lupton for delays or for departures from his instructions, despite the engraver's experience and well-established reputation at this time. Many of the letters relate specific directions about the handling of plates, and seem to have originally accompanied the plates themselves, carried to Lupton by one of Ruskin's servants. Ruskin's letters often express frustration with the other engravers involved in his projects, and he bemoans his difficult interactions with them to Lupton. While the bulk of the correspondence dates from the 1850s, the years in which Ruskin and Lupton were most actively working together, it carries on throughout the 1860s and 1870s, until Lupton's death in 1873. Although Ruskin can be harsh, demanding, and impatient with Lupton in his professional correspondence, he seems able to offer genuinely friendly concern and communication at other times. For instance, Ruskin offers Lupton a moving letter of sympathy upon the death of the engraver's wife, Susannah, in 1864. Another letter of condolence, written to Lupton's son after Lupton died in 1873, expresses the deep respect and affection that Ruskin held for his collaborator and friend. When Ruskin is in poor health (he suffered mental and physical illness especially during the 1860s and 1870s), he is relatively honest about his condition, informing Lupton of the reasons for gaps in his correspondence when he chooses to retire from work and communication in order to rest from time to time. In addition to the correspondence with Thomas Goff Lupton, Ruskin writes a couple of letters to Lupton's son Nevil, who seems to have assisted his father both in the physical labor of his engravings and in the management of his business. Ruskin is respectful and kind in his messages to Nevil, and acknowledges his contributions.

0.42 linear feet (1 box)

Yale Center for British Art

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8027348

Related Entities

There are 8 Entities related to this resource.

Turner, J. M. W. (Joseph Mallord William), 1775-1851

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6057d6v (person)

J.M.W. Turner was an English artist and member of the Royal Academy. From the description of Brighton Cricket Ground [art original] [ca. 1824?]. (Haverford College Library). WorldCat record id: 58463878 Nationality: English. From the description of Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water [electronic resource]. 1840. (Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute). WorldCat record id: 222503272 British painter. Fr...

Boys, Thomas Shotter, 1803-1874

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g16jjk (person)

English landscape artist. From the description of Letters : Bournemouth, Cheltenham, London, to H. Mogford, London, 1846-1855. (Bryn Mawr College). WorldCat record id: 28879873 Thomas Shotter Boys was a watercolor painter and lithographer in London, Paris, and Brussels. Boys and engraver Thomas Goff Lupton contributed etched plates for Ruskin's Stones of Venice. From the description of Thomas Shotter Boys letter to T. Lupton, 1855 April 12. (Pennsylvania State Un...

Lupton, Thomas Goff, 1791-1873

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q24kb2 (person)

English engraver. From the description of Autograph letter signed : London, to Alex Hill, 1840 Aug. 14. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270956232 From the description of Autograph letter signed : [n.p.], to Gordon, 1825 Mar. 21. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270847044 From the description of Autograph letter signed : [n.p.], to Mr. Gosden, [n.d.]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270590992 From the description of Autograph letter signed : London, to Alexander...

Gambart, Ernest, 1814-1902

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61n8m05 (person)

Lupton, Nevil Oliver, ca. 1830-1915

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w09s9v (person)

Haydon, Benjamin Robert, 1786-1846

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q242w1 (person)

English painter. From the description of Autograph document signed : [n.p.], being the name and address of W.Y. Otley [sic], [n.d.]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 269605958 From the description of Autograph letter signed : Oxford Row [Leeds], to Thomas Lupton, 1839 Dec. 18. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270471360 From the description of Autograph letter in third person : London?, to the Marquess of Stafford, 1816 Apr. 10. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 269606160 ...

Lupton, Thomas, 1821-1910

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tt591m (person)

Ruskin, John, 1819-1900

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qn65qn (person)

Wife of Ruskin's physician, Dr. John Simon. From the description of Letter : to Mrs. John Simon, [18--] (Lewis & Clark Library). WorldCat record id: 31272017 British writer, artist, and critic. From the description of John Ruskin papers, ca. 1837-1904. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 80934993 John Ruskin was born on 8 February 1819 in London. Ruskin was educated by his mother and by various tutors before attending Oxford University. H...