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Start Over Collection John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864

John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 April 12-1856 April 12 Box 1, Folder H.34

Ruskin tells Heaton that he will be frank with her with regards to what he would like her to do so that Heaton can assist him, if she is able to. Ruskin is going to Oxford and describes his transportation method ("a fly & a single horse"). Ruskin agrees with Heaton that "Ida" (Elizabeth Siddall) should go to Switzerland for the summer.

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
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John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 December 13-1856 December 13 Box 1, Folder H.51

Ruskin tells Heaton that he has been enjoying Turner's Aldborough at a viewing by Thomas Richmond. He remarks: "it is most beautiful and it gives [him] intense pleasure to have it a little while by [him]." Ruskin gives Heaton the dates for her vignettes (1832 and 1833), stating that the drawings date from about a year earlier. Ruskin comments that they "are characteristic of Turners late middle period when everybody was already mocking & laughing at him." He says that Turner's "blazing" Ulysses & Polyphemus was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1829. In a postscript, Ruskin claims he can't quite pinpoint the weakness in Heaton's writing but that if she reads Bunyan, Bacon and Helps, she will "feel it." He agrees to mark some passages for her. He admits that he has been so dazzled by Elizabeth Browning's work, he doesn't "feel able to describe or say anything, myself.".

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
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John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 February-1856 February Box 1, Folder H.31

"I hope I am in time to say -- by all means let R's [Rossetti's] picture be seen at Literary Society. I send you a silver and black frame for it -- the one I had it in. It looks well in it. Always faithfully Yrs" [Date provided by Surtees: ? February 1856]

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
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John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 February-1856 February Box 1, Folder H.32

Ruskin asks Heaton to inform him if she receives his letter as he wants to be sure she will not allow "the pictures" to be seen. Ruskin makes arrangements to have the Rossetti works recently purchased by Heaton displayed for exhibition, explaining all correspondence relating to the matter should be address to Rossetti. Ruskin tells Heaton that he has recently recovered from a two-week bout of illness which has thrown him "much into arrear.". In a postscript, Ruskin describes some vignettes he has viewed as "both very bad" and tells Heaton that "the Bacharach you liked" and Turner's Corinth from the Acropolis are both good but not equal to Heaton's vignettes. [Date provided by Surtees: ? Latter half of February 1856]

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
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John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 January-1856 January Box 1, Folder H.30

Ruskin apologizes for not sending Heaton a copy of his newly published Modern Painters III but says he will pay for Heaton's order of a drawing from "the workman" (presumably the artist mentioned in his previous letter) and will autograph Heaton's copy of his book the next time she comes to town. Ruskin expresses his happiness that Heaton enjoyed the book and tells her that the "best plate" in the work is his etching of Bolton which contains more "than appears at first." Ruskin says that he is unwell and so cannot write very much presently. [Date provided by Surtees: 23 January 1856]

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
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John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 March-1856 March Box 1, Folder H.33

Ruskin tells Heaton that Rossetti has received both of the works she sent for the exhibition. Ruskin reiterates that all correspondence relating to the exhibition should be addressed to Rossetti. Ruskin asks Heaton how much she would be willing to pay for a work by Turner, telling her it is likely to be between £180 to £200 and enquires whether he should secure a good work by Turner as soon as he finds one. [Date provided by Surtees: Early March 1856]

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
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John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 May-1856 May Box 1, Folder H.36

Memorandum detailing Ruskin's debt to Heaton for items such as the Bolton Abbey photographs and Heaton's debt to Ruskin for her photographs and pieces from Turner's Liber Studiorum. [Date provided by Surtees: May 1856]

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
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John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 November-1856 November Box 1, Folder H.48

"All's quite right. The Scott's house goes to a noble fellow [Charles Eliot Norton] to whom it will be very useful & Corinth is yours if you like to have it when I like to give it to you! which won't be for some time yet. I enjoy your picture so much." [Date provided by Surtees: November 1856]

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
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John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 November-1856 November Box 1, Folder H.49

Ruskin advises Heaton on the preservation of her recently acquired Turner pieces, stating that the Walls of Rome and St Angelo can be displayed, provided they are "securely pasted in at the back." He says that he would not expose the Parnassus at all, for fear of damage by gas. He tells Heaton that candlelight would not damage the works. Turner praises Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh as the "finest [poem] in the English language." He has lost the Brownings' Florence address and asks Heaton to send it to him. Ruskin exclaims: "NO CHALK from anybody" and says he will look at some Maddox Brown water colours and tell Heaton about them - he is not quite sure about them at the present moment. In a postscript, Ruskin tells Heaton she doesn't need to be as careful with Turner's Aldborough which is "not one half so delicate as the vignettes.". [Date provided by Surtees: End of November 1856]

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  2. John Ruskin Letters to Ellen Heaton, 1850-1864, bulk 1855-1864
  3. Letters from John Ruskin to Ellen Heaton