Washington Post Book World 10/19/03
"The enduring, passionate classic on architecture and Venice."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

'Thank God I am here, it is a Paradise of Cities,' Ruskin wrote on his second visit to Venice in 1841. John Ruskin, Victorian England's greatest writer on art and architecture, believed himself to be an adoptive son of Venice. His feelings for this beautiful, melancholy city, damaged by war and in danger of being restored beyond recognition, is nowhere better expressed than in The Stones of Venice. This abridged edition, which captures the essence of Ruskin's masterpiece, takes the reader on a marvellously descriptive and discursive tour of this glorious city.

SYNOPSIS

This is this publisher's second reprint of the 1960 edition of the 1853 landmark work on modern architecture by Ruskin (1819-1900). Links (d. 1997), an authority on the influential 19th century English art and architecture critic, abridges the original three- volume work. Retaining Ruskin's famous essay, "The Nature of Gothic," the editor includes his history of European architecture —focusing especially on his beloved Venice, and essays on the Byzantine and Renaissance periods. The book includes Ruskin's sketch of a Venetian palace. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

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