Record Number: 3671

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'2 East Parade, Leeds. June 25th 1856. Ellen is rather puzzled', wrote her brother to his wife, 'on comparing the tower at Calais, with Ruskin's "delightful" description.' (Payne coll.)"

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Apr 1856 and 30 Jun 1856

Country:

Probably Britain, but the reader did travel to Europe on extended tours

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Ellen Heaton

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

18 Nov 1816

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Woman with private means, art collector

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Probably Britain, but the reader did travel to Europe on extended tours

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

John Ruskin

Title:

Modern Painters IV

Genre:

Essays / Criticism, Arts / architecture

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

First edition published 1856

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

3671

Source:

Print

Author:

John Ruskin

Editor:

Virginia Surtees

Title:

Sublime and Instructive. Letters from John Ruskin to Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford, Anna Blunden and Ellen Heaton

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1972

Vol:

n/a

Page:

187

Additional Comments:

From the editor's footnote, referring to Ellen Heaton travelling to mainland Europe in the summer of 1856: "Mindful of Ruskin's (by now famous) descriptive passage in the fourth volume of Modern Painters, published two months earlier, she had stopped at Calais on her way and inspected the church tower (The Works of John Ruskin, Library Edition, ed. E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, 39 Volumes, London, George Allen, 1903-1912, Vol 6, p. 11). Ellen Heaton stopped at Calais on her way to Switzerland, which she reached in August 1856.

Citation:

John Ruskin, Virginia Surtees (ed.), Sublime and Instructive. Letters from John Ruskin to Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford, Anna Blunden and Ellen Heaton, (London, 1972), p. 187, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=3671, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

The letter quoted is from the collection of unpublished letters and diaries of Dr John Heaton, belonging to Mr and Mrs Brian Payne.