The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Joy For Ever, by John Ruskin

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: A Joy For Ever
(And Its Price in the Market)

Author: John Ruskin

Release Date: November 30, 2006 [EBook #19980]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOY FOR EVER ***

Produced by Chuck Greif, Paul Murray and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

"A JOY FOR EVER";
(AND ITS PRICE IN THE MARKET):
BEING
THE SUBSTANCE (WITH ADDITIONS)
OF
TWO LECTURES ON THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ART,
_Delivered at Manchester, July 10th and 13th, 1857._

BY

JOHN RUSKIN, LL.D.,

HONORARY STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, AND HONORARY FELLOW
OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD.

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."--KEATS.

SIXTEENTH THOUSAND.
LONDON:
GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD.
1904.
[_All rights reserved_]
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
At the Ballantyne Press

PREFACE

TO THE RE-ISSUE OF 1880.

The title of this book,--or, more accurately, of its subject;--for no
author was ever less likely than I have lately become, to hope for
perennial pleasure to his readers from what has cost himself the most
pains,--will be, perhaps, recognised by some as the last clause of the
line chosen from Keats by the good folks of Manchester, to be written in
letters of gold on the cornice, or Holy rood, of the great Exhibition
which inaugurated the career of so many,--since organized, by both
foreign governments and our own, to encourage the production of works of
art, which the producing nations, so far from intending to be their "joy
for ever," only hope to sell as soon as possible. Yet the motto was
chosen with uncomprehended felicity: for there never was, nor can be,
any essential beauty possessed by a work of art, which is not based on
the conception of its honoured permanence, and local influence, as a
part of appointed and precious furniture, either i