I - THE MSS. OF Modern Painters, VOL. II., WITH ADDITIONAL PASSAGES

Summary

There are two sets of MSS. of this volume, or connected with it:–(I.) the Allen (now Morgan MS.: see Vol. III. p. 682). This consists of various notes and materials for the book. (II.) The Hilliard MS., given by Ruskin to the late Mrs. Hilliard, and now in the possession of Mr. Frederick Hilliard, her son. This is the MS. followed, with alterations made in revision, in the printed text. (III.) Some notes, belonging to the same set as some of (I.) above, are included in the Brantwood MSS.

(I.) The Allen MSS, include the first draft of a considerable portion of the volume, differing very largely from the text. These MSS. are loose sheets, roughly stitched together; the order is not consecutive, and the intended arrangement is not always easy to make out. Ruskin seems to have written pieces at different times for different portions of his intended volume. The whole of this portion of the MSS. appears to belong to 1843–1844, when, as we have seen (above, pp. xx.–xxi.), he was already at work on the volume. The scheme of the book is not the same as he ultimately adopted; though the leading idea was clearly seized from the first, and the style is easier and more flowing than that which he afterwards adopted, in imitation of Hooker, for this volume.