RUSKIN, John (1819-1900). Author, artist & social reformer.
Autograph Letter (third person,) 1 page 8vo, Broadlands, 24 October 1875. Taking the form of a vitriolic condemnation of appeals for money for ecclesiastical buildings.

' Of all begging Mr Ruskin most detests begging for churches, and of begging for churches, most that done by bazaars - and of all ecclesiastical and bazaar begging most that which plagues him with envelopes that must be returned.'

It would appear that this letter was written soon after the death in 1875 of Rose La Touche, whom he had at one time wished to marry and with whom he was obsessed. It is presumed that his grief resulted in the episodes of insanity from which Ruskin suffered in his later years, and he certainly does not sound like a happy and conented soul in this outburst.
 Ruskin was a regular visitor to the Cowper-Temple family at Broadlands, the family home of the Temple / Palmerston and later Mountbatten families.
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