'Commonweal' on John Ruskin

On 15th September 1892 Sydney Cockerell noted in his diary that after attending a meeting of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings he had supper with William Morris and Philip Webb and there was 'talk about Munera Pulveris, etc'. One aches for that 'etc' to have been expanded, feeling that here we might have got a more detailed exposition of Morris's views of Ruskin's social thinking than we find elsewhere in his writings.

What we can usefully turn to, however, for some hints in this direction is a series of four articles which Thomas Shore contributed to 'Commonweal' in June to September 1886. Titled 'Ruskin as a Revolutionary Preacher' and amounting to almost 9000 words in all, Shore's articles constitute the paper's most sustained engagement with Ruskin's social thought; and given Morris's role as editor, we may assume that he was in at least broad agreement with Shore's detailed exposition and critique of Ruskin here.

'Ruskin as a Revolutionary Preacher' has now been reprinted for the first time since its original publication 121 years ago. Parts 1 and 2, with a brief introduction by myself, appear in the 'Ruskin Review and Bulletin', vol 3 no 3, 2007, pp.3-16, and Parts 3 and 4, again with a short introduction, will appear in vol 4, no 1, forthcoming shortly. The 'Ruskin Review and Bulletin' is published by the Lancaster University Ruskin Programme and further details can be found through its website.