Description:

AUTOGRAPH "BIRTHDAY BOOK" BOOK GIVEN TO AUTHOR JOHN RUSKIN WITH A.Q.S. BY OSCAR WILDE
A wonderful memento given to British art critic, lecturer and author John Ruskin, a specially bound "Ruskin Birthday Book" filled with quotations and excerpts from various works and speeches by Ruskin, one for each day of the year. Beside each is a blank space in which friends would add their signatures, artworks, etc. on their own birthdays. This volume, bound in brown leather with gilt title and raised hubs, was published by George Allen, Orpington, 1883. Signed, signed and inscribed, or with signatures or letters tipped in by over eighty mostly British authors, artists, statesmen, actors, etc., most notably Oscar Wilde who signs above his autograph quote: "rien n''est / vrai que le Beau" ("Nothing is real but beauty"). Also including: James Paget, signature; Henri Loge, AMQS; John Ruskin A.L.S. to "Darling Maudie [Bateman],": "Yes, the Birthday book is quite lovely . . . as well done as good girls could do it . . . ." 1 page, 8vo, with integral blank mounted to page. Coniston, 23 December 1883, with a Autograph Inscription Signed, "1819 / At Montrose St. Valentine''s 1884", Ellen Terry A.Q.S.; Charles Eastlake signature; Randolph Caldecott signature; Marie Corelli signature; Robert Browning, A.L.S., to "Dear Miss Bateman,": ". . . [T]he Birthday Book . . . I am sure you have made as attractive as such a compilation can be. . . ." 1 page, 8vo, with integral blank mounted to page. Venice, 23 November 1889; Walter Sickert, (2). ALS, to "Dear Miss Bateman,": ". . . How interesting & delightful Ruskin''s writing is! . . ." 1 page, 8vo, with integral blank mounted to page; complete separation at horizontal fold, with A.Q.S.: "If Millet had been born a modern cockney, he would have found sublime themes in Upper Street or Piccadilly"; Charles S. Parnell signature; Alfred Chantrey Corbould, ink drawing, signed at lower left, additionally signed in red ink at left, showing a horse and rider; Oliver Wendell Holmes, A.L.S., to "My dear Miss Bateman," sending his autograph. 1 page, 8vo, detached integral blank mounted to page; chipping along right edge with loss of few letters of text, Great Malvern, 11 July 1886; William Charles Kingsbury Wilde A.N.S. "William C. K. Wilde / Frére Sauvage [(Oscar Wilde''s) wild brother]"; Arthur Severn, original ink sketch of Venice; Edward Burne Jones signature; William E. Gladstone signature; Charles Austin Cox A.M.Q.S., Robert Barrett Browning A.L.S., 1890, friendly content, Malcolm Lawson A.M.Q.S., John Ruskin A.L.S., 2pp. 8vo., 1883, sends birthday wishes to lady friend; William Gladstone signature, and many more. Some pages bear tears or chips none affecting signatures. John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, as well as an art patron, watercolorist, prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. Ruskin also penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale.

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May 10, 2017 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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